Father (2010) ( Aita ) ( Pater )

Father (2010) (DVD) (*)

~~$36.99~~ $30.97

Original Title: Aita
Alternate Title: Pater
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Rotterdam International Film Festival
San Sebastian International Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
85 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (2.35:1)

Special Features:
Box Set
Deleted Scenes
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Special Edition
Trailer(s)
Booklet

Movie filmed in 2010 and produced in:
Spain ( Spain, Portugal )

Directed By:
José María de Orbe

Written By:
José María de Orbe
Daniel V. Villamediana

Actors:
Luís Pescador ..... Guard
Mikel Goneaga ..... The Priest

Synopsis:

Set wholly in or within the grounds of a rambling, semi-derelict old mansion outside San Sebastian, this calm, measured, visually very beautiful blend of documentary, fiction and archive footage bears some resemblance to Tsai Ming-liang's 'Goodbye Dragon Inn' and Jose Luis Guerín's 'Train of Shadows', but is amply rewarding in its own right. It takes a while to find out who the various people visiting and working in the house are, and as long to learn about the building itself, but a series of brief, often pawkily amusing conversations between two of the men comes slowly to focus on themes related to death, faith and the possibility of ongoing life: certainly the house, thanks to cinema, is alive with the ghosts of Basque history. Experimental but very accessible and humane, and quietly affecting.

An exquisitely high-art variation on the haunted-house movie, Basque/Catalan co-production 'Father' is the kind of ultra-rarefied, snail-paced fare that will bedazzle cinephiles and highbrow critics while leaving others bemused and baffled. Second feature from 52-year-old writer-director Jose Maria de Orbe, shot on DV by Jimmy Gimferrer, rightly won the Best Cinematography award at San Sebastian where it world-premiered in the main competition, a commendably unorthodox selection. Further festival bookings will doubtless follow for this decidedly non-commercial enterprise, especially from programmers keen to showcase edgy, challenging work along the lines of Cannes laureate Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Shot in the Basque country and Catalonia, the main location is a large, crumbling mansion surrounded by trees, which is where de Orbe himself actually grew up, though there's no mention of this in the movie itself. Indeed, it's only in the end credits that the viewer gets much in the way of specific information at all, De Orbe's technique being to present enigmatic vignettes without explanation or narration. An elderly gent (Luis Pescador), presumably some kind of caretaker, is shown puttering about working on various small restoration jobs, and occasionally conversing on philosophical issues with a younger man (Mikel Goenaga) who appears to be a local clergyman. There are other visitors from time to time, but for long stretches very little 'happens' as such: Entire sequences consist of observing the play of light in the various rooms. (Gimferrer appears to have eschewed any lamps or artificial illumination.) In the latter sections, de Orbe includes scenes which combine the supernatural with the avant-garde as decayed black-and-white movies play - silently, and seemingly without a projector - on the walls. The influence of directors Victor Erice ('The Quince Tree Sun') and Jose-Luis Guerin ('Train of Shadows') will be noted by those familiar with Catalan cinema's tradition of blurring documentary, fiction and experimentalism, and de Orbe's background in installation art is also evident. Calm, ruminative and open to almost infinite interpretation, 'Father' (the original title 'Aita' is from the Basque language) will test and probably exhaust the patience of those seeking conventional narrative structures. But there are sufficient moments of low-key magic and delicate transcendence to keep us watching, many of them courtesy of Gimferrer's exploration and examination of light. The result is off-beat and eerie in a way that definitely lingers in the mind.

An old empty house. The guard who takes care of it. The priest of the town. Spaces, sounds, lights and shadows. Time goes by and the memories are shown in its walls and in the most hidden nooks.

This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 25 April, 2013.

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