Broken
Relationships have always been a big part of most movies and the father/daughter dynamic is always something that has been very interesting.
This week Broken hits the big screen and at the heart of the story is the relationship between Tim Roth and Eloise Laurence.
To celebrate the release of the film we take a look at some of the films that featured the best father/daughter relationships.
- It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
A much-loved classic often present in people’s favourite film lists, Frank Capra’s Christmas drama It’s a Wonderful Life stars James Stewart as down-on-his-luck George Bailey, a man who is drawn to contemplating suicide on Christmas Eve forcing his guardian angel Clarence to intervene and show him the way.
Perhaps not remembered for Bailey’s relationship with daughter Zuzu (Karolyn Grimes, aged 6,) the film ends in a perfect cadence with Bailey holding his daughter in his arms.
As a bell rings, it is Zuzu who reminds us "Everytime a bell rings, an angel gets his wings"; a wonderful father-daughter scene.
Click here to buy It’s a Wonderful Life on DVD
- Father of the Bride (1950/1991)
Spencer Tracy plays the titular father of Elizabeth Taylor’s bride in the 1950 original, a comedy about a man attempting to deal with the preparations of his daughter’s upcoming wedding.
The witty set-pieces, played so well by Tracy and Taylor, successfully encapsulate what a father’s love for his daughter means.
The film received the remake treatment in 1991 with success - Steve Martin taking on the role as father, and Kimberly Williams starring as his daughter.
Click here to buy Father of the Bride on DVD
- To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Mary Badham is Scout; Gregory Peck is Atticus Finch. And so it is, perhaps literature’s most well-conceived father-daughter relationship comes to life in director Robert Mulligan’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s classic.
Their relationship on-screen was so effective that it became synonymous with the actor’s lives; Badham became close friends with Peck, calling him ‘Atticus’ right up until the actor’s death in 2003.
Click here to buy To Kill a Mockingbird on DVD
- True Lies (1994)
James Cameron’s action spy film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker, a covert spy living a double life unbeknownst to loving wife Jamie Lee Curtis and daughter Eliza Dushku.
Through his interactions with his family, the audience gain the insight that Harry simply strives to protect his family - especially daughter Dana.
When she is abducted by a dangerous militant, his double life becomes clear when he does everything in his power to protect her. It is in these scenes we glimpse Dana’s action abilities - like father, like daughter, without either realising it.
Click here to buy True Lies on DVD
- Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
A story of a family who must venture cross-country to get their daughter to the finals of a beauty pageant has several memorable characters and equally as entertaining set-pieces.
Abigail Breslin is the 10-year-old Oscar nominee, with Greg Kinnear delivering an impressive performance as her father who stops at nothing to ensure his daughter realises her dreams.
It is for this fact alone that Little Miss Sunshine deserves a placement on this list.
Click here to Little Miss Sunshine on DVD
- Taken (2008)
Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills launches into action when his daughter kim (Maggie Grace) is abducted in France, redefining the actor as an action star.
Bryan is working as a bodyguard, divorced from Kim’s mother, and we are shown how much his daughter means to him in the veents leading up to the abduction.
It is down to these sown seeds that we believe Neeson would punch, shoot and electrocute his way to finding his daughter... Now that’s fatherly love. Taken 2 followed in 2012.
Click here to buy Taken on DVD
- Kick-Ass (2010)
Not so much a heart-warming father and daughter relationship, but a strange one: Nicolas Cage and Chloë Moretz are the Macready’s AKA Big Daddy and Hit-Girl, superhero crime-fighters by night.
Daddy Macready has raised his little girl as what is essentially an assassin, who is a dab at hand at flicking pocket knives and knows her John Woo trivia.
These two may be ultra-violent and spew swear words regularly, but you never doubt the love - and moreover, the respect - they have for each other.
Click here to buy Kick-Ass on DVD
- Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
At the centre of Benh Zeitlin’s charming debut gem is an unconventional, but mesmerizingly-played father and daughter relationship.
Quvenzhané Wallis is the 6-year old Hushpuppy, who relies on her father Wink, played with lovingly-delivered abrasiveness by Dwight Henry.
Separated from civilization, they live in a bayou community where Hushpuppy’s path towards the enlightenment of love is sparked by her touching relationship with Wink, despite his attempts to help solidify Hushpuppy’s independence amidst his ailing health.
Click here to buy Beasts of the Southern Wild on DVD
- Broken (2013)
The father-daughter relationship between Eloise Laurence’s Skunk and Tim Roth’s Archie in Broken is central to the film’s ensemble, and is one of the main things to be taken away from the film-going experience.
Amongst the drama that occurs on a cul-de-sac in North London, Rufus Norris takes time to showcase some standout scenes where Laurence and Roth’s on-screen chemistry warms the heart - perhaps why 11-year-old Laurence gained nominations for Best Newcomer both at the London Film Festival and British Independent Film Awards.
Broken is in UK cinemas 8 March.
Tagged in Its A Wonderful Life