Midnight Screenings 2016 / Blood Father / France 2016
Mel Gibson’s career is linked to movie characters who generally suffer like dogs. This holds true for his role in the thriller recently featured out of competition at a Cannes midnight screening. But this time around things are more painful for the drug dealers who threaten the life of a young woman, the daughter of a former motorcycle gang member who has a rap sheet as long as his tattooed forearm (played with gusto and characteristic self-deprecation by Mel Gibson, a recent KVIFF guest).
Mel Gibson’s career is linked to movie characters who generally suffer like dogs. The same holds true for his role in the action extravaganza recently featured out of competition at a Cannes’ midnight screening. But as a former Hells Angels biker gang member who’s got a rap sheet as long as his own tattooed forearm, this time around he puts even more hurt on the drug dealers that stand in his way. With gusto and typical self-deprecation, Gibson takes on the role of John Link, who lives in the middle of the California desert where his trailer also serves as a tattoo parlor. His sincere effort to behave himself (cutting out violence and addictive substances) goes out the window the moment his missing daughter Lydia suddenly turns up, pursued by the above-mentioned baddies. But there’s no time now for sermonizing recriminations. Blood Father is a charming dime-novel thriller elevated by Gibson’s absolute immersion in the part – a creation whose energy is, at the very least, solidly rousing.
Karel Och
88 min / Color, DCP
Director Jean-François Richet
/ Screenplay Peter Craig, Andrea Berloff
/ Dir. of Photography Robert Gantz
/ Music Jordan Cox
/ Editor Steven Rosenblum
/ Art Director Robb Wilson King, Eve McCarney
/ Producer Chris Briggs, Pascal Caucheteux, Peter Craig, Gerard DiNardi
/ Production Why Not Productions
/ Cast Mel Gibson, Elisabeth Rohm, William H. Macy, Thomas Mann
/ Sales GoodFellas
/ Distributor Bohemia Motion Pictures, a.s.
Jean-François Richet (b. 1966, Paris) left school early and tried his hand at a variety of jobs, including several years of factory work. The experience substantially influenced his later film endeavors, which are characterized by strong social sentiment. He poured his casino winnings into the shooting of his freshman feature Inner City (État des lieux, 1995) and was rewarded with a César nomination. He gained wider recognition a decade later with the thriller Assault on Precinct 13, made in the United States. In 2008 he shot the most costly French film to date, the two-part gangster drama on Jacques Mesrine: Mesrine Part 1: Killer Instinct (L’instinct de mort) and Mesrine Part 2: Public Enemy #1 (L’ennemi public n°1). The pair brought him a best directing César.
Bohemia Motion Pictures, a.s.
Všehrdova 560/2, 118 00, Prague
Czech Republic
E-mail: [email protected]
GoodFellas
65 rue de Dunkerque, 75009, Paris
France
Phone: +33 143 132 164
E-mail: [email protected]
Branislav Volák
Distributor, PR & Marketing, Producer, TV Representative
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