My Father and I
Things are not as they seem inMy Father and I, Anne Fontaine's subtle, sophisticated follow-up toDry Cleaning(also starring Charles Berling). Originally--and more aptly--titledHow I Killed My Father, Fontaine presents a man who has it all. Jean-Luc (Berling) is a wealthy physician with a beautiful wife (The Dreamlife of Angels's Natacha Régnier), a beautiful house, and a beautiful mistress (how French!). Then one day he receives a letter stating that his long estranged father, Maurice (César winner and Claude Chabrol favorite Michel Bouquet), has died. Shortly afterwards, Maurice appears at his door. How can that be? And why doesn't Jean-Luc ask him about that letter? Was it sent in error or is this man an imposter? As in Francois Ozon's structurally similarSwimming Pool, Fontaine leaves it up to the viewer to solve the mystery at the heart of this exquisitely acted psychological thriller.--Kathleen C. Fennessy