Le Fils préféré (1994)
Directed by Nicole Garcia

Film Review

It was with the theme of parental estrangement that Nicole Garcia made her promising directing debut.  In Un week-end sur deux (1990), she concerns herself with a young woman's fraught attempts to connect with her children after an acrimonious divorce.  In her second feature, Le Fils préféré, Garcia's subject is further from her own direct sphere of experience but it is just as sensitively handled - three brothers coming together in middle-age after years of a separation caused by resentment over past grievances.

Before becoming a director, Garcia found considerable acclaim as an actress, working with some of France's most revered filmmakers, including Alain Resnais (Mon oncle d'Amérique, 1980) and Michel Deville (Péril en la demeure, 1985).  With her second directorial offering, she shows a comparable flair behind the camera, bringing as much slick stylishness to her mis-en-ecène as she does intelligent compassion to her writing.  Although her next feature, Place Vendôme (1998), brought her international recognition, it is Le Fils préféré which is the more substantial film, partly through Garcia's own talents, but also through some remarkable performances from the three lead actors.

Most impressive is Gérard Lanvin, who received the Best Actor César in 1995 for his extraordinarily rich and complex portrayal of the older of the three brothers who go looking for their lost father.  The tortured relationship that Lanvin's character has with his brothers is mirrored in that which he has with his father, which takes on an Oedipal dimension when Jean-Paul contemplates profiting from the old man's premature demise, only to be tormented by guilt afterwards.

Lanvin has rarely given a performance of such depth and poignancy as he does here, and if there are any lacuna in the script these are amply filled in by his silent expressions and body movements, gestures that convey far more inner turmoil than any amount of dialogue.  His co-stars Bernard Giraudeau and Jean-Marc Barr are also extremely convincing in their roles, although their impact on the film is somewhat less because the narrative is so intensely focused on Lanvin's character.

Strong performances and a handsomely crafted screenplay ensure that Le Fils préféré grabs the spectator's interest from the start and doesn't let go until the very end.  Comparing her first two films, Garcia seems to have a more profound understanding of the male psyche than that of her own sex - she certainly has a greater willingness to confront head-on this aspect of human experience.  Her film is brutally honest in its depiction of real emotions, from sibling antagonism to filial guilt and enduring family resentment, and yet it is far from being an exercise in gratuitous miserabilism.  Amid the darkness there is just a faint glimmer of hope that all will turn out well in the end, that compassion will ultimately rule the day.

Film Synopsis

Jean-Paul Mantegna is the 40-something owner of a hotel on the French Riviera.  Saddled with debts, he desperately needs to raise a large sum of money to keep his business afloat, so he turns to the only members of his family who can help him - his brothers Francis and Philippe.  Unfortunately, Jean-Paul is not on the best of terms with his brothers, and they have every reason not to lend him their support.  Francis has had nothing to do with his family after his father Raphaël, a one-time boxer, disowned him for being a homosexual, and being a modest teacher he hasn't any money to spare.  Whilst Philippe, a successful lawyer based in Italy, has the wherewithal to help his brother, he still hasn't forgiven him for having an affair with his wife.

In the end Jean-Paul has only one way to fend off the loan sharks who are on his back - he takes out a fraudulent life insurance policy on his father, with the aim of making a claim in the near future.  It turns out to be a wise move, since a short while later he witnesses his father's accidental fall into the sea.  Unable to watch the old man die, Jean-Paul comes to his rescue - but only after a noticeable delay.  The incident has a marked effect on Raphaël, who has hitherto come to regard Jean-Paul as his favourite son.  He is no longer able to talk to his son, and a short while later he goes missing.  Badly affected by guilt, Jean-Paul turns to his two brothers and implores them to assist him in looking for their missing father. The three men take advantage of their enforced quest to reopen old wounds and mull over their differences...