Romulus, My Father (2007)

It tells the story of Romulus, his beautiful wife, Christina, and their struggle in the face of great adversity to bring up their son, Raimond. It is a story of impossible love that ultimately celebrates the unbreakable bond between father and son.

Director:

Richard Roxburgh

Writers:

Nick Drake, Raimond Gaita (memoir)

Stars:

Eric Bana, Franka Potente, Marton Csokas

10 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eric Bana	...	Romulus Gaita
Franka Potente	...	Christina Gaita
Marton Csokas	...	Hora
Kodi Smit-McPhee	...	Raimond Gaita
Russell Dykstra	...	Mitru
Jacek Koman	...	Vacek
Alethea McGrath	...	Mrs. Lillie
Terry Norris	...	Tom Lillie
Esme Melville	...	Miss Collard
Nick Peace	...	Teacher
Geoffrey Graham	...	Man in Cafe
Trevor Nesbitt	...	Man in Cafe
Zoe Boesen	...	Young Woman in Cafe
Briega Young	...	Young Woman in Cafe
Laurie Jensen	...	Taxi Driver

Storyline

Raimond Gaita (1946 - ) comes of age in Frogmore, Victoria in the early 1960s. His parents are immigrants: his Romanian father farms; his German mother, Christina, estranged from Romulus, is in Melbourne. Romulus is near despair when she takes up with the brother of his best friend, who suggests he send for a new wife from back home. For Rai, poverty, bruises, and the mysterious ways of adults compete with his longing for a stable home and his own incipient puberty. Love and madness lie in the same bed. As an old woman tells Rai, "Sometimes what you reckon and what you get ain't the same thing."

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Plot Keywords:

directorial debut | family relationships | postpartum depression | love | victoria | 

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Taglines:

The Bond Between a Father and His Son Can Never Be Broken

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality, some violence and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Australia] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Australia

Language:

English German

Release Date:

31 May 2007 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Babam Romulus

Filming Locations:

Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

AUD 331,072 (Australia), 3 June 2007, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,791, 2 March 2008, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$2,791, 2 March 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arenafilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the special features, everything in the film was taken from the real Raimond's life.

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Goofs

In the scene in the diner in which Christina plays a record on the jukebox, the jukebox is marked "Stereophonic." In 1962, stereophonic jukeboxes didn't exist and 45 rpm records (which is what the jukebox in the film plays) were mono only.

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Quotes

Raimond: [noticing the looks that the ladies are giving Romulus] Why are they looking at you?
Romulus: Because they want to be friendly.

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Connections

Referenced in An Independent Epic - The Making of Twin Rivers (2009)

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Soundtracks

My Prayer
Music by Georges Boulanger and Jimmy Kennedy
Performed by The Platters
Published by EMI Music Publishing
Licenced courtesy of J. Albert & Son Pty Lim.
Under Licence from Island Def Jam USA
Licenced courtesy of Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd.

User Reviews

Australian cinema tour de force within a modest, yet unpleasant display

A broken family have a growing boy at his early teenage years and have no sense of responsibility to grow a child. Considering that both mother and the father is uneducated and clueless, they live in a farm before the World War II; we still have no idea upon why they ruin a child's life making a havoc of his psychology.

Proved by adversity the family have nothing to distinguish their boy, nor to give anything to make him happy, nor to teach him anything precisely good. Father gets to figure out that the kid needs a college education, and sends him to a college. Then after the suicide of the mother, the boy gets closer to his father. A happy ending occurs and mops up all the pain and unpleasant situations out of the movie, and hopefully out of the boy's memory. Thus, his father taught him one thing, a very important one, how to be patient of adversity.

For a tough story to put on silver screen, the actors' performances are somewhat exhilarating; and that's the mainspring to tolerate this movie. Within low-budget movies with no technical endeavors, if you like to witness a modest triumph of a child, much better than My Father Romulus, I advise you to watch "I am David".