Displaying items by tag: Indya Moore

FATHER, MOTHER, SISTER, BROTHER

US/France/Ireland, 2025, 110 minutes, Colour.

Tom Waites, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Charlotte Rampling, Cate Blanchett, Vicki Krieps, Sarah Greene, Indya Moore, Luke Sabbat.

Directed by Jim Jarmusch.

No mistaking the contents of this film from the title.

In fact, this is a portmanteau film, three successive, unrelated stories, quite different locations, but a continuous family theme.

Jim Jarmusch has been making idiosyncratic, well-received films for over 40 years, a wide range of themes and styles, from Native American stories, Dead Man, to vampires, Only Lovers Left Alive. And he has worked with a great number of significant actors, as evidenced by the cast of this film. (And check the skateboarders in each story as well is a reference to Rolex watches.)

The opening story, set in snow-clad New Jersey, has two middle-aged siblings, brother and sister, Adam Driver and Mayim Bialik, driving to visit their father, Tom Waites, the brother, divorced, but in contact with his father, helping him out with supplies, the sister, married with family, not having kept in contact with her father. When they arrive, they are somewhat on edge in the conversation and its directions, their father’s response, a great awkwardness. And, that is the plot, father, distanced from his children, and, after they go, a reassurance that he still has an active life to lead.

The Mother story is actually set in Dublin, suburban streets, again two siblings, this time daughters, Vicki Krieps and an almost unrecognisable Cate Blanchett (we have to keep checking whether this bespectacled lady is actually her). The focus is time is Mother, waiting for the daughters, a thoroughly proper performance by Charlotte Rampling as an author, everything just so in the preparation for the afternoon tea, trying to maintain contact with her daughters, trying to influence their lives, their awkwardness with her.

And, then to Paris, for a brother sister story, reuniting, going to visit the storage and view their parents belongings, some reassessment of the relationship to their parents and to each other.

The three stories are not exactly in competition but audiences will respond differently to each of them.

1. The distinctive films of Jim Jarmusch for over 40 years, multi-awards nominations?
2. An international collaboration, stories in New Jersey, Ireland, France? International cast? Jim Jarmusch and directing, writing, music?
3. Three short stories, family relationships, tentative relationships, difficulties in communication, unions?
4. The idiosyncratic use of Rolex watches, genuine or fake in each story, the skateboarders in each story, characters, on the highways, on the city streets…? Evocative for the audience?
5. Father? Jeff and Emily, their age, strength of the relationship, memories of the past, Emily and her marriage and family, business work, Jay, the divorce, reticence, not meeting their father often? In the New Jersey countryside, winter and snow? The roads? Finding the house?
6. Tom Waites as the father, age, appearance, voice, living alone, photos and memories of his life, his children, and not coming to see him often, tentative, the house and its condition, their comments, silences, Jeff and his history of helping his father, concerned about the house repair, the truck? Emily, restraint affection and interests? The proceeding of the visit, some conversation, Jeff giving him groceries, the money? Their driving away, the effect of the visit on them? And the aftermath, the father sprucing up, phoning a girlfriend, arranging the meal, the money, revealing his car and his financial condition…?
7. Mother? The Irish setting, the city streets, the uniform homes, buildings? Charlotte Rampling’s presence, dress, manner, the afternoon tea set, everything just so? The revelation background of her writing, publications, not talking about them? Two daughters, no reference to the father?
8. Lilith, appearance, hair, with a friend, in the car, the relationship, gay suggestions, her mother watching her arrival, drawing conclusions? Her character, conversation, the relationship with her mother, love, affection, distance? The contrast with Tim, driving, the car breaking down, the phone calls, the ignition, arriving, her appearance, clothes, everything just so, manner of speaking, affection for her mother? The conversations, limited, Lilith curious, the relationship between the sisters? The afternoon tea, everything just so, lavish, overhead filming of the table and cakes? The proceedings? The decision to go, promises future, the two sisters, Lilith and money and the uberr, Tim waving, her mother left behind?
9. The transition to Paris, the city, the streets, the rings, the two siblings, meeting, the discussions, their parents, what was left for them, the interactions with people in the city, the going together to the store room, the contents, from the grandparents, rather overwhelmed, the decision what to do with it? The future?
10. The overall impact of each of the stories, the connection between them, themes of family, relationships, tensions, difficulties in communication, futures?