My Fathers, My Mother and Me
Director: Paul-Julien Robert
Rating: 4/5
The documentary competition is always strong at the BFI Film Festival, and this year is no different. My Fathers, My Mother and Me is one of the stand out films as Paul-Julien Robert makes his feature-film directorial debut.
My Fathers, My Mother and Me is also one of the more thought-provoking films on show as it tackles some very controversial issues.
The director looks back on his childhood whilst living at a commune with is mother: the commune was the brainchild of Otto Muehl. However, the commune had a profound effect upon the children who grew up in it.
Interweaving archive footage from the time and new interviews with his mother and other commune members, Robert embarks on a very personal and, at times, distressing journey.
This is not the sort of documentary that you would watch regularly as it really is rather grim: put that doesn't mean that it is not a powerful and totally engrossing watch.
The movie starts out as a look back at this communal way of living and why Robert's mother made the decision to be a part of that community.
However, it very quickly takes a darker turn as the children who are born into that way of life: the children are bullied and humiliated on a daily basis by Muehl.
This movie is not afraid to show Muehl's devastating abuse of power, and the struggles that these children faced in later life.
My Fathers, My Mother and Me is not a movie that aims to shock with stories of child abuse, but is more Robert's understanding of why his mother chose to live this life and subject her son to such a regime.
The archive footage shows the extent of how the children were bullied, and the power that Muehl wielded over everyone who lived in the commune: they really are the most powerful moments from the film.
My Fathers, My Mother and Me is a movie that will leave you incredibly angry as you cannot believe that mothers would allow their children to be subjected to that sort of abuse.
And yet Robert's mother is a sympathetic figure as, at the time, she was a young woman who was just desperate to find somewhere to belong.
From start to finish this is an intriguing documentary that is intelligent and thoughtful.
My Fathers, My Mother and Me is screened at the BFI London Film Festival 13th and 15th October.
Tagged in BFI