Really Surprised!

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is one of these movies that only come once in a great great while and leave your soul with the burden of a lifetime experience. It will charge you up and it will brake you to pieces...No words to describe... Can't find a way to define...Why so strongly do we want to live when the meaning of life is so overpoweringly indefinite, vague, woolly, unclear, unspecific and unfixed!?... BECAUSE IT'S OVERPOWERING!!!I beg you please, do yourself the favor of seeing this Leviathanic Achievement in the Art of Cinematography!!! Your heart will melt completely when at the end the film reveals you that this is the biographical memoir of the philosopher and writer Raimond Gaita! Please, believe me now, when I say that I am completely overwhelmed by the emotions the movie left me with and this is the reason to be writing this review/message. I am an independent individual not involved with or paid by any movie production or company related to the the film .Thank you

I should not really have come here to talk about it, as I did not give it my full attention which very unlike me. I don't agree with J Cocteau that movie have to get rid of big budget etc. to be art, but who am I beside being entitled to my opinion! Art it is and Romulus My Father strives in this achievement. Why I did not give it my whole attention, I don't know exactly. Was it Eric Bana background in Aussie TV, was it "another Australian movie? No because I actually taped it and was looking forward to see it. Was it the slow pace of the start, perhaps. I think really I was not in the right mood for it and agree that is a difficult story almost joyless. I was surprised to see no comment incorporating some comparison with "Last Ride" (Hugo Weaving)even though I founds some comments from authors who had enter comment under both films. I saw "Last Ride" at the cinema and Romulus... at home but on a fairly large screen. I will have another go at it... perhaps with some fine wine to get the journey smoother!

An astute view of a very unusual man and his relationships with his wife, son, and friends, Romulus, My Father contains a film-making mystery for me. While watching this excellent film, I kept asking myself how a boy of only eleven would be able to perceive situations and follow through with actions of someone much older. Having taught numerous eleven year old boys during my career, I found the thoughts and actions of Raimond extraordinary. I put it down to Raimond being a very bright child with wisdom beyond his years. I now find that the real Raimond Gaita was born in 1946, so he would have been fourteen to seventeen years of age during the time of the story rather than the ten to thirteen year old depicted in the film. It is beyond my comprehension why the director chose a younger boy for this part.Romulus is an Eastern European immigrant striving to make a life for himself and his son in 1960's Australia. He ekes out a meager existence working a small farm and making wrought iron furniture. It is his dream to earn enough to send his son, Rai to private school. Romulus's canon could be "Don't Make Waves" as he perpetually seeks calmness and compliance. This is shown is a small way when he is addressed as "Jack" at a local restaurant. Romulus explains to his son the "Jack" is his Australian name as the locals would be uncomfortable with his foreign name.Romulus's greatest tolerance comes in his relationship with his wife, Christina. We find that she lives in Melbourne with another man and chooses to occasionally visit her husband and son. She is welcomed by her husband whenever she chooses to visit, and he even quietly accepts that she has had a child with another man who was a good friend to Romulus. In one of the reviews of this film I read, the writer compared Romulus with a saint. No matter the metaphor used to describe him, he certainly behaves in a way not expected of a man whose wife totally rejects his love.During all this, Rai continues to cherish his mother and even spends time during vacations caring for his half-sibling as well as his mother who suffers bouts of severe depression.Romulus has a very good friend from his mother country, Hora who visits often and offers whatever emotional support and advice possible. Hora also acts as somewhat of a surrogate father for Rai as Romulus is often detached and emotionally distant. Hora is embarrassed by the fact that it is his brother, Mitru who is the father of Christina's second child and this causes a rift between the brothers.The acting in this piece quiet and understated and superbly portrays these emotionally bound people.Eric Bana shows Romulus as a kind-hearted but emotionally closed man who is placed in a situation without a solution. Far more than half of his performance is conveyed through facial expressions and body language, and these leave no doubt as to the storm of emotions boiling in this tortured man.Christina is given her bi-polar life expertly by German actress, Franka Potente who shows us a woman whose highs and lows make her a fascinating and irresistible character.Best friend, Hora is portrayed with strength by Marton Csokas, and his weak-willed brother, Mitru, is given life expertly by Russell Dykstra.Even though he is way too young for the part, Kodi Smit-McPhee gives a memorable performance as Raimond. His talent is clear, but I still continue to be vexed by the fact that the real Raimond was considerably older during the actual events depicted in this film.Raimond Gaita became a very successful man which is a tribute to the strength of the human spirit. This film is his story, and it expertly shows the genes of strength, moral character, and emotion contributed by his parents as well as the leveling love and maturity given by his surrogate father - all combining to succor the growth of a boy into a man of worth.

My wife and I watched this excellent movie several hours ago in Fremantle and we both share similar feelings about this engrossing yet difficult film. My comment is in no way meant to demean anything about the film, rather it is simply a sign-post to direct some people to other films because it is a difficult movie to watch; it fleshes in segments of people's lives that, as a rule, are not brought to light--they remain closeted and spoken of in muted voices when they are spoken of at all.In my opinion, Australian movies are a massively unique sub-species of what could generally be tagged "art-house" movies--movies that are drawn in colours that do not reflect anything remotely from Hollywood. These movies have certain characteristics: they are most obviously short on dialogue; the Australian landscape is so strong that it becomes another principle character in the film; there is not even a hint of "glitz"; the script is as close to reality as any viewer would likely want to get and the cinematography is bold, using close-ups and strong contrasts to accentuate the on-screen drama. Romulous, My Father had all of these elements and they were masterfully blended into an unforgettable movie.The script was based on the memoirs of the boy who dominates the movie. Eric Bana, the father, takes top billing but the son is equal to Bana's brilliant portrayal. Diane and I talked on the way home today that we knew adults who were that boy. We did not know these families when the friends were small but we know the elements that combined to mirror the script we just watched on the screen. Change a few scenes here and there and it is all so similar. Australia is the story we saw today many times repeated. I would recommend this film to Australians because it is the story of our neighbors or workmates and I would recommend it to people from the world over as a quintessential Australian film as well as an insight into who we are.