| How I Killed My Father | |
| Director: | Anne Fontaine |
| Producer: | Philippe Carcassonne |
| Starring: | Charles Berling Michel Bouquet Natacha Régnier |
| Music: | Jocelyn Pook |
| Cinematography: | Jean-Marc Fabre |
| Editing: | Guy Lecorne |
| Studio: | Ciné B France 2 Cinéma |
| Distributor: | Pathé (France) New Yorker Films (USA) |
| Runtime: | 98 minutes |
| Country: | France |
| Language: | French |
| Budget: | $5.2 million[1] |
| Gross: | $1.7 million[2] |
How I Killed My Father (French: '''Comment j'ai tué mon père''') is a 2001 French thriller drama film directed by Anne Fontaine.
Jean-Luc, an established gerontologist, has not had any contact with his father, Maurice, for many years and thinks he is dead. Jean-Luc lost touch when his father left his family to work as a physician in Africa.
Without notice, the father reappears. He is bankrupt and moves into his son's home for several days. He annoys Jean-Luc with compliments that sound like accusations. Or is it Jean-Luc that always hears irony? His wife likes the senior immediately, and even Jean-Luc's younger brother accepts him. Jean-Luc would like to kill his father but...
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 89% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "How I Killed My Father is a penetrating character study of father-son ties".[3] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]
Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times said that "[the film is a] kind of murder mystery, but eventually the only victim is the audience's interest -- the picture is uncompromising and inauspicious".[5]
Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly commented that "[t]he script is a steady accretion of small stabs to the heart, propelling the gorgeous performances of Berling, Regnier, and especially the 76-year-old French cinema veteran Bouquet, whose every faint smile is killing".[6]
Ty Burr of The Boston Globe wrote "Hushed but scalpel-sharp drama, a [film] that'll probably send men in the audience home much quieter than they arrived".[7]