What with Father’s Day coming up on Sunday, it’s made me all emotional to think about the man that taught me what being a man is all about and the special bond we share father to son. Then that got me thinking about some of the most poignant moments between father and son on film. And now my keyboard is flooded.
Warning: Man tears will weep….
The Bicycle Thieves
In post-war Italy when a man has his bicycle stolen, he is unable to do his job and can’t provide for his family. Every young boy sees their father as being all powerful so the moment when he realises that he’s not is heartbreaking. Quite simply, this neo-realist classic is one of the finest films ever made.
Field of Dreams
You can’t really get more American than this. It’s got baseball, the Midwest, Kevin Costner, and bucket loads of sentiment but it lands just on the right side of saccharine. It’s also got two oft-quoted lines, the Wayne’s World spoofed ‘If you build it, he will come.’ And the blub-inducing ‘Hey dad, wanna have a catch?’
The Godfather
Should a son follow in his father’s footsteps if he’s a murderous gangster? Yes, definitely. Wouldn’t have been such a good film if he didn’t.
Life Is Beautiful
Guido Orefice, a Jwewish Italian (played by writer and director Roberto Benigni) tries to shelter his son (played by the cutest little boy in the world) from the full horrors of a Nazi concentration camp by pretending it’s all a game. A simultaneously horrendous and uplifting picture of humanity.
The Son’s Room
Nanni Moretti (this year’s Jury President at Cannes) wrote, directed and starred as the father in this heartbreaking film about an Italian family attempting to come to terms with the death of their son. It won Moretti the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2001 and the Guardian named it as the 6th best film of the Noughties.
The Beat That My Heart Skipped
Similarly to the Godfather, a son is torn about whether to follow his gangster father’s line of work or a less violent line of work (in this case, a far, far less violent career as a concert pianist). Roman Duris, one of the finest actors of his generation gives a sterling performance as the son to Niels Arestrup’s father in Jacques Audiard’s brilliant film.
Finding Nemo
Yeah it’s an animation but a brilliant one with a great story about a safety mad single dad risking his life and travelling across the world to find his only son.
Kramer vs Kramer
Hoffman is forced to learn to love and care for his young son when his wife leaves him. The scene when he runs and carries him through New York streets to get to hospital shows what a bond has grown between them. A film that shows the full tragic effect that divorce has on children.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
A very funny portrayal from two Hollywood superstars of an irritable adult father and son relationship.
Beginners
The father/son relationship may just be one half of the plot of the most recent film on this list but Christopher Plummer deservedly won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of a father who comes out to his adult son after his wife dies.
