In My Father’s Den

By Michael Adams
November 2004, Empire

Brad McGann's feature debut as a writer and director opened the Sydney Film Festival this year, and it's certainly the sort of film that will appeal to the art-house crowd. At first, the movie is a brooding character piece about a damaged man's return to what remains of his dysfunctional family and the unlikely friendship he strikes up with an artistic teen aged girl. But when his new friend disappears, the film detours into the realm of thriller. It's this latter element - and the way it's skilfully incorporated into and deepens the narrative and characterisations - that recalls In The Bedroom and Lantana. Like those films, In My Father's Den deserves to find a sizeable mainstream audience.

Based on the 1972 novel of the same name by Maurice Gee, one of New Zealand's most acclaimed authors, McGann has constructed an intricately woven film that deftly switches between viewpoints and the past and present. The picture also succeeds in constantly keeping the audience working to unravel its mysteries. British actor MacFadyen (most familiar for his work in TV series Spooks) is excellent as the journalist trying to come to grips with his past. He plays the role with both sensitivity and a dark edge so that, while we're on his side, we can never fully trust him. This gives his scenes with Emily Barclay, who's terrific as the bored but creative teen, both a tenderness and an unsettling air, especially when we're seeing them in flashback, knowing that Celia has vanished and Paul's not being entirely truthful about events.

The world around Paul and Celia's hermetic, self-made cocoon is even more threatening. Just how weird, tragic and violent it is only becomes apparent gradually, after we've made some wrong assumptions and swallowed a red herring or two. While in lesser hands, In The Bedroom could have been a pulp revenge flick and Lantana might've come off like an episode of a reserved television crime drama, this film, with its mix of voyeurism, mental illness, suicide, erotic asphyxiation, Freudian obsession and child molestation, could have made for an over-the-top soap opera. But most of these elements find a real place in character and plot development. There are a few exceptions that seem too contrived and at film's end one particular plot question remains for viewers to debate. Nevertheless, this is a classy piece of art and genre filmmaking.

ANY GOOD?
Intelligent, absorbing and tension-filled, In My Father's Den is a character-driven thriller.
And thanks to Stuart Dryburgh's cinematography, this is yet another showcase for NZ's stunning landscapes.

**** (four stars)

For further information please contact:

Elizabeth Trotman, Hoyts Distribution DDI: +(64) 9 306 7525
etrotman@hoyts.co.nz

Kathleen Drumm, NZ Film Commission DDI: + (64) 4 382 7685
kathleen@nzfilm.co.nz

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