You Will Be My Son - Film

Watched the 2011 film "You Will Be My Son" (French: Tu seras mon fils) this evening with a friend. Niels Arestrup crackles as Father while Patrick Chesnais plays the increasingly troubled estate steward. Nicolas Bridet plays Chesnais' preternaturally gifted son--over-praised by Arestrup--whose re-appearance sets in motion the movie's central conflict and story arcs of each main character.

Lush, outstanding cinematography of vineyards and estate buildings. My only regret--not having a glass of wine to drink while viewing. Casting seemed spot-perfect for all players.

The contrast between the warm, initial re-uniting of Chesnais and Bridet, at the beginning of the movie, and their later, wounded and hurting meetings, struck me. As observers, we see Arestrup's son, played skillfully by Lorànt Deutsch, peacefully interacting with Chesnais, making educated and insightful assessments of how to step-in and save the harvest, due to Chesnais' absence. Arestrup may have a point in that Deutsch does not have Chesnais' palette or nose; but Arestrup's judgments of his son prevent Arestrup from seeing him as anything but a burden.

The tension builds and builds--it seems a foregone conclusion the denouement will involve violence, but the resolution did come a bit unexpectedly, though the movie telegraphs it pretty clearly, in retrospect. Arestrup tells his story in three parts: first, to Deutsch, he relates how he falsely reported his own father's death as drowning in a local river, due to inebriation, to cover-up the the actual cause of death--drowning in a wine vat after succumbing to carbon dioxide fumes given off by the fermentation process (the false report allowed Arestrup to sell the wine and avoid tarnishing the name of the estate); second, to Bridet, confiding in him Arestrup's father's decision to adopt Arestrup, after observing his skill in maintaining the estate--echoing Arestrup's own fixation on Bridet as a non-biological heir; and third, to Deutsch, near the end of the film, explaining how the birth of a sickly Deutsch transformed Deutsch's mother, in Arestrup's opinion, from joyful to exhausted--revealing the root of Arestrup's animus toward Deutsch and, in effect, guilting Deutsch with her death.

I loved the drawing of the stick-figure on Anne Marivin's belly near the end. She plays a loyal supporting role, throwing elbows when needed to temper Arestrup's caustic barbs, which have beaten down Deutsch, by the start of the film.

Chesnais and Valérie Mairesse, as Chesnais' wife and Bridet's mother, to me, represent an oasis of safety for Deutsch--we see their genuine concern and caring for him, as the viewer might expect, given their long history with the estate and Arestrup. Deutsch confides in them and Chesnais' treats him as a peer, confirming Deutsch's analysis as sound. We can clearly see Chesnais' growing pain as he watches his son Bridet's choices--ignoring the needs of Deutsch to meet Arestrup's needs and his own. The conflict between them resolves with raised voices and a falling out. The last we see of Bridet, he does not have time to talk to Chesnais or attend Chesnais' health appointment...it seems Chesnais, perhaps, sees his son turning into Arestrup. In an attempt to save Bridet from continuing down that path, Chesnais murders Arestrup by asphyxiation from carbon dioxide released from the fermentation--an echoing of Arestrup's own father's death.

This development opens up questions, perhaps, of whether Arestrup's father truly died accidentally...or, teasingly, leaving me wondering if Chesnais' father killed Arestrup's father? And, if so, did Chesnais know, or, like Bridet, did he take on the role in ignorance of his own father's actions?

Other ambiguities: who inherits the estate after Arestrup's death? It seems Deutsch and Marivin will leave to start their family. Did Arestrup formally adopt Bridet before his death, and, in so doing, make Bridet an heir to the estate?

So much to praise about this movie. If it does not make you want a glass of wine, nothing will.

Note: as perhaps the weirdest pairing of all time, we first watched the 2014 animated film The Nut Job. The consensus: it was OK, but forgettable...so much human effort put into the film--at least they made a sizable profit. Never has Psy's Gangnam Style seemed so dated as watching him dance in the ending credits. A catchy tune, but it has not aged well.