TIFF Review: Romulus, My Father

Simple and understated, Romulus, My Father begins with Romulus Gaita (Eric Bana) and his son, Raimond (Kodi Smit-McPhee). A light bulb sways in the black of night, and the father attempts to teach his son about life. He is holding a handful of still and lifeless wasps. As the warmth of the light passes over them, they stir, and he brings the insects back to life in front of the amazed eyes of Raimond. The lesson is simple: with warmth, life will thrive. It is an ideal that the elder Gaita models his life upon, and while it continues to fail him in his own life, he is fueled by Raimond taking the lesson to heart.

Coming from Raimond Gaita's noted memoir, Romulus, My Father follows the writer's young life in 1960's Australia. His family has emigrated from Eastern Europe, and now find their life divided. Father and son live alone in the country, receiving only sporadic visits from unreliable wife and mother Christina (Franka Potente). Romulus allows this because he loves Christina, and believes that she needs him. Raimond is an ideal kid, one who remains optimistic and loving in the shadow of his mother's absence. It is, however, an optimism that is continually challenged as his father is beaten by the hardships that life hurls at him time and time again.
Christina lives in the city with Romulus' previous friend, Mitru (Russell Dykstra), who also happens to be his best and always-helpful friend Hora's (Marton Csokas) brother. It becomes immediately clear that she has no interest in being a mother. She obviously loves her son, and shows him affection, but it is at her whim. She chooses to delight in those happy stolen moments, rather than being there through thick and thin. Through her whirlwind visits, she pops up, spends time with Raimond, sleeps with Romulus, and then disappears. Things change, however, when she gets pregnant with Mitru's baby. Christina falls apart when she is once again faced with what she ran away from, the string that was holding Romulus together begins to unravel, and Raimond's life suffers from the strain.

It's an incredibly slow-paced film that relies on the strength of its actors to thrive. While this makes it too much of a sleeper to live up to all of its potential, Richard Roxburgh has pulled solid performances out of each of them. I've never been so impressed with Eric Bana's work -- you can feel his love, as well as his anguish, which is almost always expressed through his face and actions, not exposition. Smit-McPhee is also wonderful as Raimond, who pulls on your heart-strings with his eternal optimism, helpfulness, and love. And then there is Franka Potente, who gives a powerfully understated performance.

Some have said that Christina is driven insane, but it seems more like she suffered from a mixture of cultural obligation and post-partum depression, than insanity. She tells Raimond how Romulus chased her, so utterly in love with her, and tried to kill himself when he thought he wouldn't get her -- but it is not this act that is chilling, it is how funny she thinks it is. Essentially, she wants to live a carefree life -- be her own woman, one who can delight in the company of a financially-secure man and have few worries. When she has this with Mitru, she is happy. But once she gets pregnant, and her life becomes familial once again, she falls apart.

For the most part, Roxburgh's debut as a director is thoughtful, but it does suffer from the slow and rolling pace, which keeps it in a sort of cinematic limbo -- not good and not bad -- just there. For the most part, it exists like a passive look into Gaita's challenging young life. There is, however, one scene with Romulus' chickens that seems jarring and pointless -- while it might be part of the writer's memories, within the realm of the film it sticks out like a violent, sore thumb. Otherwise, Romulus, My Father is a decent film that just is, without being wow-worthy or notably disappointing.