|
|
|
Father's Chair AKA A Busca
R2 - United Kingdom - Simply Media Review written by and copyright: Matthew Crossman (18th January 2016). |
|
The Film
 Theo Gadelha (Wagner Moura) is a successful Doctor lives in an affluent Brazilian neighbourhood. Theo has put all his efforts into his career and subsequently ignored his Wife, Branca (Mariana Lima), and his fifteen year old Son Pedro (Bras Antunes). Because of this Branca now wants a divorce from Theo. Theo now lives away from the family home but stops by one day after work to talk to Branca. Theo cannot accept that his Wife wants a divorce and the couple argue. Pedro comes home to find his parents arguing. Theo then discovers that Pedro has been given a chair by Pedro’s Grandfather, and his Father. In a fit of rage over his disintegrating life Theo smashes the chair. Theo storms out of the family home leaving Branca to pick up the pieces physically and emotionally. In a small act of peace Branca later invites Theo to dinner with herself and Pedro. Theo arrives and the couple wait for their Son to come home as he has been away staying with a friend. After waiting for awhile Branca tries to call Pedro but her Son is not answering his phone. She then calls his friend who tells her that he had no plans with Pedro and that he has not seen the couple’s Son for a few days. Panic starts to set in and the couple discover that Pedro has managed to adopt a horse and has effectively run away. Immediately Branca gets a phone call from Pedro’s phone but it is not Pedro on the line but a stranger who has found Pedro’s phone. Theo instructs Branca to go home and wait in case Pedro comes home whilst he drives to the location of the stranger who has Pedro’s phone. The stranger hands back Pedro’s phone and tells Theo that it looked like Pedro was involved in an accident and that people living in a nearby shanty town might have more details. Theo enters the town and soon discovers that Pedro stayed the night in a woman’s house and left the following morning. Another resident points to a dirt track that he believed Pedro and his horse took out of town. Theo follows the track in his car but soon comes to a dead end where a large river intersects across the road. Theo then meets a ferryman who confirms that he carried Pedro and the horse across the river. Theo persuades the man to ferry him and his car across the river but as it is low tide they cannot go immediately. Frustrated, Theo tries to row the distance in a dingy but falls in the water, ruining his and his Son’s mobile telephones and in the end has to wait until the tide is back in to continue his journey. Once Theo is across the river he encounters a man wearing Pedro’s t-shirt. The two tussle and the man reveals that he traded a bottle of Pinga for the t-shirt with Pedro. The man then points Theo in the direction that Pedro went. Theo comes across a small town and is desperate to make contact with his Wife but no one will let him use a telephone. In his desperation Theo steals a mobile phone from an old man and escapes in his car with it. Whilst following the route he believes Pedro has taken he encounters a group of young men who have run out of petrol on their way to a rock festival. Thinking that this is Pedro’s destination he agrees to give them all a lift. Theo arrives at the festival and is fortunate to run into a young woman who has met Pedro. Theo learns that Pedro stayed the night in her and her friends camp. Whilst there Theo helps a woman at the camp give birth to her Son. Theo is starting to realise all the things he has missed out on in his Son’s life. Later, Theo receives a telephone call from Branca. It seems that Pedro and Pedro’s Grandfather have been exchanging letters and drawings. Pedro’s Grandfather is another person that Theo is estranged from having put all his efforts into his medical career. Branca surmises that Pedro’s destination is to go to his Grandfather whom he has never met. Theo is now on course to a emotional and enlightening reunion with not only his Son but also his Father. ‘Father’s Chair’ (‘A Busca’ the original Portuguese title which translates as ‘The Search’) is a film of two halves. It begins as a thriller with the possible abduction of Pedro and the mystery concerning his disappearance. At the half way stage it becomes clear that, despite only being 15, we the audience have made the same assumptions as Theo and do not realise until this point that Pedro is a resourceful and talented young man. From here on in the film stops being about Pedro and starts concerning itself with the wasted life of Theo. Theo is a successful Doctor but this success has come at an expensive price with that price being the relationships with Branca, Pedro and his Father. Theo is now on a voyage of discovery and his experiences on the journey to find his Son opens his eyes up to his past mistakes. As Theo travels through two states in Brazil the scales start to fall from his eyes and whilst Theo spends the first half of the film frustrated and angry he spends the second part in an almost nirvana state as the reality of his past choices sink in and that he can see the way out of his current predicament. ‘Father’s Chair’ is a gentle film and ultimately a heart warming one with a message to us all. That a balance is required in all of our lives and if we do not pay attention to the balancing act we are likely to topple one side over and lose what is most precious to us all. The movie is well acted by the small cast and whilst the characters are well realised in the script the storyline does, at times, feel quite contrived with the plot relying on several coincidences. However, this does not overly detract for what is a pretty decent, small budget film.
Video
The film is presented in it’s original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 (anamorphic). Shot on digital the picture is, at times, quite faded. It seems to be that the contrast levels are too high resulting in the fading of colours and digital grain, especially on long zoom shots. Having said that there are no major grumbles and the movie captures the Brazilian countryside well.
Audio
The audio side of the film is delivered in 5.1 Dolby with it’s original Portuguese language soundtrack. English subtitles (not hard of hearing subtitles) are provided. These can be quite difficult to follow during the early part of the film as conversation is heated, quick and overlapping meaning that the subtitles are only on screen for a brief period of time. As the film progresses and we follow Theo on his lone journey these are much easier to follow as his conversations with people he meets are at a more sedate pace. The rear speakers are used for ambient sounds such as waves and wind and this leads itself nicely to the view of the Brazilian landscape. The sub woofer is underused but then it’s not that sort of film that would employ it anyway. The dialogue through the centre speaker is clear throughout and the musical soundtrack does not overawe the dialogue at any time. A Portuguese DD 2.0 Stereo track is also included.
Extras
None.
Overall
As mentioned, ‘Father’s Chair’ seems to start out as one type of film and then veers, fairly dramatically into something quite different. Certainly, I feel, that the second half of the movie is the better part and therefore some patience maybe required to get the most out of it. The acting is very good throughout from the principal cast and some slight deficiencies in the script ‘Father’s Chair’ is well worth a look.
|
|||||
|