I NEVER SANG FOR MY FATHER (82)

Directed by: Gilbert Cates (1970)

Starring: Melvyn Douglas, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons

The Pitch: After his mother's death, a middle-aged man tries to resolve his relationship with his domineering father.

Theo Sez: I've now seen this heartbreaking movie three times, the first two several years ago on a pirate-video copy with the colour constantly flickering on and off. It didn't matter, which is a mark both of the film's power and of the fact that, visually, it's nothing to write home about (there are two DPs, both equally undistinguished). Cates occasionally tries to juice it up with late-60s devices like "shock" edits, twelve-frame cuts slicing into the narrative like random thoughts (which works pretty well), and frequent use of the zoom lens to signal the end of a scene (which doesn't work at all), but is mostly content to sit back and let the actors strut their stuff - if that can be said of acting so meticulous and understated. Douglas captures everything there is to know about this tough, stubborn, charismatic tyrant, from his hearty businessman's jocularity to the unsparing way he falls to his knees in prayer every night (not because he's religious, but because he's a man who respects power); while Hackman's performance as a sensitive, rather weak man is so good it's shocking - we're just not used to seeing him this way (it almost makes you wish THE FRENCH CONNECTION had never happened). It's not much of a movie, full of stagy speeches and rather obvious dramaturgy - like the over-reliance on repeated phrases ("He's a remarkable man") - but, for all its flaws, it's so sincerely-felt, with such respect for emotional truth, that even on third viewing it triumphantly transcends its rather maudlin material and rather boring genre. Basically, it's just heartbreaking.