You Will Be My Son (2011) User Reviews

Captivating

[christophe92300 · 8/10 · 22 September 2013]

Gilles Legrand delivers with Tu Seras Mon Fils a poignant drama carried an excellent duo of actors whose performances are oozing accuracy, the always masterful Niels Arestrup, frightening as an authoritarian and despising patriarch, and Lorànt Deutsch, touching as a constantly demeaned son.

The viewer ends up completely carried away by this polished familial tragedy where the implacable unfolding of the plot and the striking dialogues totally captivate from end to end. However, certain motivations are a bit hard to assimilate and the purpose of the opening scene is questionable because it incomprehensibly reveals the twist of the movie, which by the way could be regarded as a bit sloppy.

All in all, Tu Seras Mon Fils overall is solid and deserves more consideration than the press critics tried to convince us.

Well-crafted

[paul2001sw-1 · 8/10 · 18 May 2014]

There's a grim tale well-told in 'You Will be My Son': that of an egotistical wine-maker whose love of his craft exceeds that for his son, and to such an extent that he feels under no obligation to hide it. The film pivots around these two points, indulging a sense of love for the craft of traditional wine-making, but portraying the father's behaviour in an utterly unsympathetic light. But the son is a bit too craven to be interesting: he has a mysteriously beautiful wife, and his refusal to leave, and preference to stay around and be bullied instead, is a bit mystifying; ultimately the film perhaps shares with its characters a sense that patrimony is at heart the proper way of the world. The ambiguous ending, however, is well-judged.

Aggravating

[richard-1787 · 6/10 · 27 March 2012]

I found this movie aggravating. The head of a French vineyard constantly belittles his son - near the end, we find out that it is at least in part because the father lost his wife in part because of his son's ill health. The father eventually favors the son of his foreman. But the son is not presented in a sympathetic way, and though his situation is unfair, we never get a chance to really feel for him.

The acting is all fine, and some of the shots of Provence are wonderful. There were the makings here of a much better movie, but that would have required rethinking the script, and therefore probably finding a better director.

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I watched this movie again this evening, and that gave me no reason to improve my previous opinion of it. The only reason this movie works at all is because the lead, Niels Arestrup, has so much charisma, that you remain interested in his thoroughly disagreeable character despite his many flaws; had a less charismatic actor played the role, the character would have been so hard to stomach that I doubt anyone would have sat through the movie.

On the other hand, Lorànt Deutsch, who plays his son, comes across as having no charisma whatsoever. (What makes his extremely attractive and intelligent wife stay with him the movie never begins to make clear.) As a result, it is very hard to feel sorry for him, even through his father treats him like dirt for no good reason.

This is just a dissatisfying movie. A shame, because there were the makings of an interesting story here.

Trop facile

[cestmoi · 6/10 · 24 September 2013]

The lead is a distinctive actor with all the subtlety of the script in this role. The poor beleaguered son is so unsure of his place in the world that his masochism in remaining in his father's universe is barely believable...though his behavior begs for more beatings of a psychological kind. The loyal wife of the junior loves him for reasons unknown to the viewer; under the sheets, perhaps? The once (1960-70) disco scene is resurrected here to hardly any purpose. The manager of the vineyard, dying of cancer, gets the best draw of script which he fulfills with professionalism and dignity, and his practical and loyal wife plays her role beautifully. As to the prodigal would be son, an insensitive cad and gainer well played here. The logic of the script is minimal and the resolution more abrupt and fevered than what precedes it logically allows. Beautiful shots of the vineyard. All in all, this vintage is pas mal but no chapeau.

Hallmark Film Noir---twin actors confuse

[rome1-595-390251 · 6/10 · 23 August 2014]

Vineyard owner favors associate's son over his son.

This movie was hard to grade....the brush strokes were too thick for this to be anywhere near a masterpiece. The story had a lot of potential--dommage.

The first hurdle I encountered was the two actors playing the son Martin and the "surrogate son" Francois looked identical...it took me a good 15 minutes of concentrated looking to tell them apart (at first I thought one actor was playing both parts). It takes the energy out of you and is a distracting gimmick more than anything else. The actors tried to use their talents to show the difference but it seemed forced and rushed and over the top. (Yes I am aware this feeds into story)--you are to wonder if Francois is an illegitimate son like the Vineyard Owner himself. One big problem for this cleverness is neither actor looked remotely like the Vineyard Owner. The leftie class theme (an unfortunate common item in French film industry) was totally unneeded but mercifully small.

The film has almost the feel and quality of a Hallmark movie or a made for TV item--the sound track which I never notice unless it is very bad or very good grated on me--so minus at least 1 star. The disco scene looks hopelessly dated.

I watched it for one reason I wanted to see French country-side--- unfortunately a lot of it was digital wizardry--they can create anything anymore---the fog was impressive.

RECOMMEND--

How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth ...

[writers_reign · 9/10 · 19 June 2014]

Neils Arestrup plays Lear? Not quite, but this exceptional film does rework Shakespeare especially in the sub-plot of Lear involving Gloster's (Shakespeare's spelling) two sons, Edgar and Edmund and the parallel even extends to the Gloster figure, played to perfection by Patrick Chesnais, being terminally ill whereas Gloster was merely blinded. There is so much to admire here not least the comprehensive coverage of running a vineyard - in this aspect we can find comparisons with Moby Dick i.e. part fiction, part documentary - and the acting across the board is of the highest quality. After a long career providing film-enhancing support Arestrup finally gets a chance to strut his stuff in a leading and largely unsympathetic role and is equalled, if not surpassed by Chesnais, another largely unsung French actor who never disappoints and brings lustre to even the most thankless role. In this film Chesnais and Arestrup are the Burt Lancaster/Kirk Douglas of France and a thousand times better. This is a film almost beyond praise and cannot be recommended too highly.

Dying on the vine

[dbdumonteil · 9/10 · 2 July 2012]

With a title borrowed from Kipling ,"Tu Seras Mon Fils" is one of the best French contemporary movies.I have the strange feeling that Gilles Legrand was able,not a small feat,to capture what was great in the old glorious cinema,particularly that of Julien Duvivier , with whom he shares the same pessimism and an unusual depiction of nastiness ,of cruelty ,transferred to the realities of our times.

Nils Arestrup,too often cast in supporting parts,gives a terrifying performance of a wealthy man , a viticulturist whose vintage wine he treasures and who despises his son,Martin;He cannot talk to him without demeaning,humiliating him,going as far as to accuse him of causing the death of his mother when they visit her grave ;"you do not belong here;"you're no good at anything" "if you do not know,ask Philippe".

Philippe ,the foreman's son ,is exactly the kind of son the father longs for;besides ,Phil's father,is dying of cancer:so why not adopt him and send Martin away from the valuable property?"you change sons as you change your shoes" says the daughter-in-law who desperately supports Martin.

The father's game is subtle:when he is awarded the Legion D'Honneur,he takes his new "son" to Paris with him in a luxury hotel (he gives HIS surname to Philippe when he books the rooms),he poses for the press with him by his side ("the newspaper reads "with his son" ,says Phil's mother,they must have made a mistake") Nils Arestrup never overplays but he really makes us believe he is a monster ;the rest of the cast rises to the occasion:Patrick Chesnais ,terminally ill,seeing him take his own son away from him;Valerie Mairesse ,as his wife ,who sees clearer than he does;and the two boys,one very shy with a low self -esteem (two gripping scenes:the self-inflicted wound with the secateurs in the vineyard;the nightmare in which he sees his (monstrous) father trying to drown him in a vat of wine) ;the other one,the fine boy with good prospects, so sure of himself ,who's just back from California where he had a very good job.

With an unusually good sense of space (the vineyard is remarkably filmed),a dense screenplay,lines to rival the best of Henri Jeanson,Charles Spaak or Henri-Georges Clouzot,Gilles Legrand blew my mind;Two comments so far !!it would deserve a hundred of them!yes it would!

A father who would disown his son

[willev1 · 9/10 · 17 November 2013]

The film is a well-crafted study of two fathers and two sons. One father owns a prestigious French vineyard but cannot accept or encourage his own son, whom he actually despises, despite the young man's constant attempts to please his father. The other father, terminally ill with cancer, had been estate manager of the vineyard. When his son, who had emigrated and worked for a California winery, returns to visit his dying father, the vineyard owner is so impressed that he attempts to lure the visitor back to France with an impressive job package... including an offer to legally adopt him so that he would share in the inheritance of the vineyard. So now the lines of conflict are neatly in place. One son versus the other. The dying father versus the vineyard owner whom he believes is trying to "steal" away his son... added to the basic conflict between a demanding father and his thankless son. The characters are skillfully drawn and flawlessly acted by a marvelous cast of French players. I thought the direction and photography were superb; you will also learn a lot about the art of growing grapes and producing fine French wines.

The scenario is very illogical

[AntiFakeReviews · 5/10 · 19 March 2021]

Suppose you got a cancer at the later stage, your boss liked your son, because his own son was no good at all to take over the vineyard and wine business. Your boss would let your son to take over the business, so your wife would be also taken care of. You should be very happy that your family would be safe and sound after your death. Could it be possible that just because your boss treated your son like his own and would entrust him to take over the vienyard and wine business, then you felf jealous? No, absolutely not. You'd be very happy about such outcome. That's human nature. Yet this guy who got the terminal cancer simply couldn't accept such good luck for his som and his wife, instead of being very grateful to his boss, he committed some very illogic crime.

The whole movie was 99.9% fine until the unnatural, illogical even ridiculous twist that ruined the whole movie. It's a very stupid twist and completely ruined it.

"Fitness falls into two categories:Athletic and ascetic."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 9/10 · 12 June 2016]

Getting the internet back on at home after 2 days of the server crashing,I decided to take a look at the movies listed on BBC iPlayer.Getting near the end of the list,I noticed a splendid looking,dark French Drama,which led to me getting ready to find out what vintage the film is.

The plot:

After running the family vineyard for decades, Paul de Marseul starts to become aware that some point soon he will have to pass the Marseul legacy over to the next generation:his son Martin.Whilst past generations have made the transitions go smoothly,Paul is only able to look at Martin with pure hatred,as Paul treats his son to constant bullying,which includes blaming him for the death of their wife/mum,and Martin being unable to get his girlfriend pregnant. Learning that his dad (and friend of Martin) François Amelot is struggling in his battle with cancer, Philippe Amelot decides to go and support his dad.Meeting Philippe,Paul is thrilled to find that Philippe has all the qualities Martin lacks.Suspecting that François is near death (what a friend!) Paul starts making plans to hang a new son on the vineyards.

View on the film:

Sweeping over the vineyards,co-writer/(along with Laure Gasparotto & Delphine de Vigan) director Gilles Legrand and cinematographer Yves Angelo unwrap the darkness decaying the heart of the Marseul family.Taking inspiration from Film Noir sheen, Legrand and Angelo paint the wine in a golden ruby,which masks the rot setting in at the centre,which Legrand superbly unveils by transforming the Marseul's wine vault into a Gothic Horror crypt,where the bitter anger consuming Paul is allowed to ferment.

While the way Paul treats Martin is extremely harsh,the screenplay by Legrand/ Gasparotto and Vigan make each sharp line of dialogue land with a real punch,due to the writers cleverly using Paul's viciousness to place him in a deadly corner. Giving Paul a "warm uncle" shine,the writers wonderfully send Paul down an unforgiving Film Noir loner path lit up by Paul isolating himself by hurling snarling swipes at all who stand in his way,until Paul is left as a monster in his self-imposed den.

Soaked in buckets of misery, Lorànt Deutsch gives a thrilling performance as Martin,whose bruised knuckles Deutsch digs deep into,whilst dapper Nicolas Bridet makes Philippe look like he is walking on water with his savvy charms.Stomping down on the grapes, Niels Arestrup gives a thunderous performance as Paul,thanks to Arestrup joyfully burning Paul's cuddly side and digging up the pure Film Noir cruelty,in a movie which should be watched through the grapevines.

There's a better film in this but still good.

[philipfoxe · 8/10 · 29 March 2014]

Some excellent playing in this film which really works because its French. Some have commented on the character of the son, Martin and that he is an unsympathetic character. In Hollywood, he would have been a lovely doe-eyed sweetie pie, but this is a French movie. A son who has been constantly neglected, abused and criticised by his father is likely to be introverted, resentful and unconfident and so he is. It is to be admired that he is portrayed as flawed and uncharismatic. His loyal and loving wife keeps him going and supports him-without her he would not cope. This film, with more work, money, time etc could have been a classic, but it is still a good reason to value the French film industry.

Intriguing Twist Means Justice Prevails Over Egotism

[KayBrowningDC · 9/10 · 23 September 2023]

I saw this film when it came out in theaters and the plot still resonates to the point that this morning, 12 years later, I had to look up the reviews. I think you need to be of a certain age to understand the varied relationships between fathers and sons and fully appreciate this film. This is not about who is most knowledgeable and is deserving of largesse on that basis alone. Nor is it about pitying one who is bullied by a thoughtless and egotistical father. Some readers - those of the "me generation" I would guess - see this solely as an unexpected chance to gain valuable property, and why not?!! This is about justice and the thwarting of someone who thinks he can always get his way. Intriguing twist at the end. Beautifully shot.

Very bad script

[sylvie_hurat · 4/10 · 19 June 2014]

This movie is inept, not because of its acting, which is not top notch but because of the script: characters are unidimensional and we never know whose story it is.... The women characters, though hardly visible, at least have a like ability that the men characters lack Besides the lack of interesting characters, the story isn't interesting. It is highly predictable (no, I'm not going to tell you how it ends, but you can figure it in the first ten minutes of the film, if you are not yet discouraged. The only redeeming scenes (and probably those who explains the high grades given by reviewers and more sadly by the metascore critics) are those showing the fabrication of wine. Probably those who enjoyed the movie enjoyed wine, and that is a good excuse. To summarize, there are many better ways of spending 90 minutes of your time, one of which is to open a bottle of wine.