nickbekos

The Big Father is a bold and aggressive satire of corporations, ads infiltrating into movies and the nowadays obsession in views/subscribers/watchers. This is a story of a middle aged father, who struggles to pay his bank debts and his salvation comes with a price: he will be given money to his movie, but as a vehicle of promoting a specific brand... As the director is torn between his ideals and the harsh reality he and his family live in, he struggles to find a balance...

A very powerful comedy for a first feature film, with a protagonist exploring the full spectrum of character development.

I decided to watch this film, after I watched "Drive". I was surprised by the low ratings, but the trailer seemed promising... Long story short, I was thrilled from the movie, way more than "Drive". Astounding visuals, very slow paced, with sudden bursts of bloody action, enigmatic scenes and, on top of that, a study in psychology. The film uses a lot of Freudian motifs and themes, which are explored even more during the 3rd act.

Later, and after I read some reviews about "Only God Forgives", I realized Refn's breakthrough film was "Drive", a film with a strong and silent protagonist. Having the same lead playing a repressed son of a crime matriarch didn't sit well with "Drive" fans.

The prequel film of Twin Peaks had a pretty rough time during its screening at the Cannes festival, and was also a box office bomb. Due to these circumstances, the Black Lodge myth was never expanded, as Lynch wanted and we only got a glimpse of it during "The Return".

But why this film failed so spectacularly? Because viewers expected the usual quirky black comedy and not a realistic horror story about the Laura's last week before her death. Because, unfortunately, even in Twin Peaks, the fans then didn't got the themes and visions Lynch had in mind...

One of the few movies that made me cry, too.