It might be a holiday invented to cynically replicate the commercial success of Mother’s Day, and it might not have its own Garry Marshall movie yet (this is a good thing, now that we think about it), but Father’s Day is still an actual thing. An actual thing that’s coming up on Sunday, in fact. And it seemed to us like a good opportunity to examine one of cinema’s most resonant themes — fatherhood.
Many filmmakers over time seem to be haunted by their dads, or lack of them — Steven Spielberg made divorce and fatherhood a theme of much of his early work, for instance, and revelations over parents lie at the heart of many of our biggest franchises, from “Star Wars” to “Iron Man.” Be it curiosity over human nature or plain old daddy issues, filmmakers have often done their best work when tackling the relationships between fathers and their daughters or sons.
So as such, and as a companion to our piece on the best movie mothers, we’ve picked out 25 good or great films that deal with fatherhood in very different ways. Take a look below, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
“Beginners” (2010)
“Beginners” is about a very modern and honest father-son relationship — appropriately so, given that it’s based off director Mike Mills’ own experience. After his wife’s death, Hal (Christopher Plummer) comes out as gay to his son Oliver (Ewan McGregor), and falls in love with a younger man (“I don’t want to just be theoretically gay. I want to do something about it”). Through his newfound honesty with himself and others about his identity, Hal becomes closer to his son. It is this honesty that inspires Oliver to take a chance in his own love life and pursue a French actress (Mélanie Laurent) that he had just met. Mills’ unconventional take on the family dramedy is stylish, cool and formally playful, with a light, almost Lubitschian touch that flirts with twee while also steering away from it. But it has a big beating heart and an emotional authenticity that runs much deeper than any surface cleverness. McGregor has rarely been more charming than he is here, while Plummer delivers one of the performances of his career, and quite rightly won an Oscar for the turn (the oldest man ever to do so).
“Bicycle Thieves” (1948)
While not quite the original cinematic father-and-son tale, Vittorio De Sica‘s “Bicycle Thieves” was perhaps the greatest from the first half of the 20th century, pretty much changing cinema forever, and proving endlessly influential. Perhaps the best-known work of the Italian neo-realism movement that emerged after the death of Mussolini and the defeat of fascism in the country, the film (based on a novel by Luigi Bartolini) depicts the harsh realities and struggles of life in post-war Rome, and stars Lamberto Maggiorani (a non-pro when cast) as Antonio, the father of two children, who needs a bike in order to get work to support them. He and his wife (Lianella Carell) pawn their bedsheets to get the money to get his bicycle out of hock, but it’s soon stolen, and he and his eldest son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) set off through the city in search of the thieves. It’s positively bleak stuff, and absolutely heartbreaking (especially once Antonio resorts to thievery himself — there’s a reason the title is “Bicycle Thieves”), but still very watchable and beautiful, anchored by a bond between Maggiorani and Staiola that’s so close and convincing, you’re a little staggered that they’re not really father and son. It might be more than 60 years old, but from U.S. indies to Iranian masterpieces, its DNA runs through a huge number of films even today.
“The Descendants” (2011)
It’s no surprise, what with the deeply ingrained sexism of the industry and all, that movies about fathers and sons are much more common than ones about fathers and daughters. But things have been changing a little of late, with Alexander Payne’s acclaimed “The Descendants” being a prime example. Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, it stars George Clooney as an attorney from a wealthy Hawaiian family whose wife suffers a boat accident, putting her into a coma. He’s left alone to care for his troubled teen daughter (Shailene Woodley) and younger child (Amara Miller), while his life is thrown into further turmoil when he learns that his spouse had been having an affair. The film isn’t perfect — Payne’s occasional condescension to his characters is present here, and the score is kind of oppressive. But some incisive writing and a startling debut from Woodley make this far better than most at capturing the gulf of understanding that can develop between a father and a daughter. Clooney, in particular, has rarely been better, schlubbier and more wounded than usual, and rarely more moving than when he reads a sort of rapprochement with his offspring and they share ice cream together.
“East Of Eden” (1955)
As we noted in our feature on Elia Kazan, the emotional fabric and texture in the seminal filmmaker’s pictures was always “intense, raw, painfully naked, unsettling, ugly, and almost always tragic.” That’s very much the case in “East of Eden,” Kazan’s emotionally bruising film about fathers, sons and the love and approval patriarchs can give or deny. Set in Salinas Valley around World War I, ‘Eden’ centers on a pair of Cain and Abel-esque siblings. The black sheep Cal Trask (James Dean) feels he must compete against overwhelming odds with his brother Aron (Richard Davalos) for the love of their father Adam (Raymond Massey). Desperate to trying to win the favors and affection of his father, the angry and vulnerable Cal is frustrated at every turn and can never seem to do right (or stay out of trouble). And when he tries his hardest, the effort seems to only earn him deeper scorn from his dad; Cal learns the hard way that he cannot even buy his father’s love when he loses his fortune. Worse, a dark family secret about their mother is uncovered and it leads to tragic consequences when finally unveiled. Featuring an extraordinary moody intensity (it earned four Academy Awards including James Dean’s first for Best Actor), it’s an uncompromising, painful and scorching examination of fathers and sons, their discord and irreconcilable conflicts.
“Father Of The Bride” (1950)
Somewhat tainted by the milquetoast ’90s Steve Martin-starring remake, this comedy isn’t the greatest thing its director and star ever made, but it’s nevertheless an effortlessly charming and surprisingly substantial comedy. Adapted from a novel by Edward Streeter and directed by the great Vincente Minnelli, it stars Spencer Tracy as a well-to-do suburban dad whose comfortable life is firmly disrupted when his daughter (Elizabeth Taylor, rarely more luminous) announces her engagement. It’s undeniably a cozy, comfortable world that the film is set in, a proto-sitcom that mostly shies from any subversive instinct. But Minnelli keeps up something like psychological realism by keeping the focus so tightly on Tracy’s character. Throughout the farce-like developments, the star delivers one of his very best performances. It plays perfectly into his persona — weary, hard-drinking, avuncular — and his comic timing is rarely better. But Tracy also finds pathos and tragedy among what could come across as phoniness, painting a portrait of a man reminded that everything changes at some point, and that his own mortality is something he can’t ignore forever. After box-office success and multiple Oscar nominations, a hasty sequel followed the next year with “Father’s Little Dividend,” but the original is the one to stick with.
