"FATHER" EXHUMED

Seldom has a lightbulb - well, a chandelier - shone so much light on a father/son relationship.

Looking at it, Colin Firth sees his father Jim Broadbent, perhaps for the last time.

It is an odd title for a film, by any standards. "And When Did You Last See Your Father?"

Oh, yes, there is the excuse that it is based on a book of that name, a memoir by Blake Morrison about his father. But there are lots of films that go for a more zippy title if the source material seems clumsily named.

So what is going on here? Is it to risk giving too much away to mention that the "seeing" referred to has nothing to do with simply catching a glimpse of a father. As in, When did you last see your handbag? Or When did you last see a goal like that.

Oh, no, such "seeing" is far too literal in this context. Here "seeing" means "grasping the essence of someone". It means "finding the heart of the true person". It means "discovering the soul of the man".

That is what this film is about. When is a person his or her true self?

Indeed, Firth might well have asked the same question about his mother, Juliet Stevenson (pictured, above). Or she about her husband.

And in that context, of human beings trying to make contact with the true other person, the title, however awkward, is a blinder. And similarly the film itself, however quiet and reflective, is a powerful and moving experience."

It opens on October 5th.

Filed September 18th, 2007