Aime ton père (2002)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Jacob Berger

Writers:

Pascal Barollier (writer)
Jacob Berger (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

13 November 2002 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

While the whole world thinks writer Léo Shepherd is dead, he is kidnapped by his son Paul.

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Gérard Depardieu	...	Leo Shepherd
Guillaume Depardieu	...	Paul
Sylvie Testud	...	Virginia
Julien Boisselier	...	Arthur
Noémie Kocher	...	Marthe
Hiam Abbass	...	Salma
Frédéric Polier	...	Andre
Pierre-Alexandre Crevaux	...	Paul, Age 8
Pippa Schallier	...	Virginia, Age 11
Johanna Mohs	...	Pippi
Jacques Frantz	...	Antoine Levy
Sten Eirik	...	Sven Boland
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Karina Aktouf	...	Paul's fiancee
Roberto Bestazzoni	...	Policeman
Manuela Biedermann	...	Hospital nurse
Marc Brunet	...	Policeman
Jonas Finlay	...	Ship's officer
Martin Forsström	...	Sailor
Cory Hogan	...	Eskimo child
Robert Jadah	...	Stockholm usher
Stefan Kollmuss	...	Swiss Gendarme
Ulla-Carin Lindquist	...	Lotta Nielsen
Elisabeth Niederer	...	Dead woman
Johan Paulsen	...	Ship´s Doctor
Manuel Tadros	...	M. Azouz
Richard Ulfsäter	...	Sailor
Urs-Peter Wolters	...	Hospital doctor
Gregory Terlecki	...	Nobel prize dignitary (uncredited)

Directed by
Jacob Berger

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Pascal Barollier		writer
Jacob Berger		writer
Ed Radtke		writer

Produced by
Patrick Bordier	....	executive producer
Michael Cowan	....	co-executive producer (as Michael Lionello Cowan)
Gérard Depardieu	....	producer
Jean-Pierre Guérin	....	producer
Claude Léger	....	co-producer
Alex Marshall	....	associate producer
Jason Piette	....	co-executive producer
David Rogers	....	co-executive producer
Hamish Skeggs	....	line producer: UK
Jonathan Vanger	....	co-producer
Ruth Waldburger	....	co-producer
Clive Waldron	....	associate producer: UK

Original Music by
Jean-Claude Petit

Cinematography by
Pascal Marti

Film Editing by
Cathy Chamorey

Casting by
Nicolas Ronchi

Production Design by
Pierre Allard
Kay Brown
Ivan Niclass

Art Direction by
Kay Brown

Set Decoration by
Nadine Petit Clerc

Costume Design by
Suzie Harman
Kay Nigg-Devanthey		(as Kay Devanthey)

Makeup Department
Gaétan Landry	....	hair stylist
Joan Patricia Parris	....	makeup artist: Canada

Production Management
Thierry Bettas-Bégalin	....	production supervisor
Daniel Boudreau	....	assistant unit manager
Fabrice Gasser	....	assistant unit manager
Ginette Guillard	....	production manager
Paul Hart-Wilden	....	unit production manager: UK

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jerome Franc	....	third assistant director: UK
Fabrice Grange	....	first assistant director
Julien Greco	....	assistant director trainee
Janine Law	....	second assistant director: UK

Art Department
Dion Boothby	....	set dresser
Andrea Christelis	....	assistant art director
Michel Doré	....	storyboard artist
Johnny Hawkins	....	production buyer

Sound Department
Howard Bargroff	....	sound re-recording mixer
Howard Bargroff	....	sound
Ben Barker	....	foley editor
Steve Cook	....	sound supervisor: UK
Colin Cooper	....	adr recordist
Max Hoskins	....	supervising sound editor
Jean-Paul Mugel	....	sound
Yves-Marie Omnes	....	boom operator
Kath Pollard	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Ben Wilkins	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Pierre Riverin	....	special effects technician
Antonio Vidosa	....	special effects foreman
Martin Williams	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Frederic Moreau	....	visual effects

Stunts
Rémi Canaple	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Rémi Canaple	....	stunts
Patrick Cauderlier	....	stunt coordinator
Yan Dron	....	stunt double: Guillaume Depardieu
Stéphane Lefebvre	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Roch Boucher	....	second assistant camera
Ciro Candia	....	second assistant camera: UK
Andre Chemetoff	....	second assistant camera
Mark Evans	....	gaffer: UK
Antonin Gendre	....	key grip
Colin Houben	....	assistant camera
Agnès Letessier	....	assistant camera
Estelle Marcoux	....	trainee camera: Montréal
Christian Navennec	....	first assistant camera: Canada
Mario Radinovic	....	video operator
Brent Robinson	....	underwater first assistant camera
Virginie Trottet	....	camera trainee: combo
John Ward	....	Steadicam operator: UK

Casting Department
Elsa Pharaon	....	casting: children

Editorial Department
Floriane Allier	....	assistant editor

Transportation Department
Luc Bouthillier	....	driver
Richard Chabot	....	driver: cast
Réal Hamel	....	picture car coordinator
Andrée Roy	....	driver (as Andree Roy)

Other crew
Maria Apps	....	runner: UK
Véronique Arcouette	....	second set production assistant
Guy Aumond	....	production accountant
Shirine Best	....	development assistant
Daniel Boudreau	....	set production assistant
Ruth Charest	....	coordinator
Michael Goring	....	runner: UK
Mel Hider	....	assistant: Mr. Cowan and Mr. Piette
Hugh Ip	....	production coordinator: UK
Lucile Joly	....	production assistant
Emily Kyriakides	....	assistant: Mr. Cowan and Mr. Piette
Francois Larose	....	set runner
Lucy Shuttleworth	....	development executive
Benoit Thériault	....	production assistant
Geoff Weate	....	runner: UK

Production Companies

• Canal+
• DD Productions
• Enterprise Films
• France 3 Cinéma
• GMT Productions
• Great British Films
• Rhône-Alpes Cinéma
• Spice Factory
• Transfilm
• Télévision Suisse-Romande (TSR)
• Vega Film

Distributors

• Vega Distribution (2002-2003) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• TLA Releasing (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• UGC-Fox Distribution (UFD)
• Union Générale Cinématographique (UGC) (France)

Special Effects

• Duran

Other Companies

• Gearbox Sound and Vision  additional ProTools systems supplied by
• SIF309 Film & Music Productions  film score recording

Also Known As:

A Loving Father (International: English title)
Honor Your Father (Philippines: English title)

Runtime:

103 min (Locarno Film Festival)

Country:

France | Canada | UK | Switzerland

Language:

French | English | Swedish

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | Netherlands:AL | France:U | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Bienne, Kanton Bern, Switzerland

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

The ferry scenes were actually shot on the Isle of Wight ferry England.

lots of great moments but it loses its way

There were some amazing performances in this movie, as, at times, it delved into interesting material about parenting and relationships with neglectful parents. However, each time when the characters started to dig deeper within themselves to reveal more, the movie interrupted the focus--often into rather irrelevant directions. This is probably because most people with emotional baggage attempt to confront the past but become scared and run from it. Despite this, I still wanted to see much more exploration between the father and son. In addition, I wanted to see more than just a one-dimensional performance by the daughter throughout all but the closing moments of the film (she always seemed intensely and disproportionately angry throughout the film). It was as if the movie was put into production before there was a chance to edit and do re-writes and smooth out all the details--especially the very end of the film that made very little sense. Overall, it's interesting and has moments but could have been better.

By the way, Gerard's real life son plays his son in the movie. He looked an awful lot like a French version of Julian Sands (the somewhat obscure English actor).