Romulus, My Father (2007/Magnolia Pictures DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C Film: C
A tough
working class father with issues (Eric Bana) tries to raise his son and juggle
his own life in actor-turned-director Richard Roxbury’s directing debut, Romulus, My Father (2007) set starting
in the late 1960s and working its way forward as their difficult relationship
unwinds. Martin Csokas is the son and
Franka Potente is his wife, but this is not a simple happy story. Instead, it is a drama that is rather raw and
veers into some melodrama.
Unfortunately,
despite some ambition and good performances, it becomes muddled early in its
107 minutes and never improves, with Csokas forced to be upset and cry all the
time. We get to see animals killed, people
abused and these slice of life moments are overplayed enough to implode the
film. I am glad to see another film from
Australia, keeping their cinema vital, but Romulus
is ultimately too little story and too much of what we have seen before, time
and time again.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is a bit soft throughout, while the
Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is lively at times and well-recorded for the most
part. The combination did not wow, but I
wonder if a Blu-ray would play back better.
Extras include storyboards, deleted scenes of some merit and a making of
featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
