Jim Jarmusch’s latest effort, “Father Mother Sister Brother,” set to screen on the Lido this weekend, now has a trailer — which can be seen below.
The film boasts a richly talented ensemble cast, including Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Adam Driver, Tom Waits, Charlotte Rampling, Mayim Bialik, Indya Moore, and Luka Sabbat.
It should also be noted that Jarmusch’s film was controversially rejected by Cannes earlier this year, but has somehow managed to nab a prestigious NYFF Centerpiece slot. Cannes has a history of making mistakes, having rejected an innumerable number of great films over the years, and it’s quite possible Jarmusch’s film is another one. We’ll see.
Described by NYFF as a “perceptive study in familial dynamics,” the film is structured as a triptych, each segment set in a different country and focused on adult children reconnecting with estranged or aging parents. One segment features Driver and Bialik as siblings visiting their reclusive father (Tom Waits) in rural New Jersey. Another centers on Blanchett and Krieps reuniting with their emotionally distant mother (Rampling) in Dublin. The final chapter brings Moore and Sabbat together in Paris to process a family tragedy.
According to the festival, the film unfolds as an “anti-action film,” slow and deliberate in its rhythms, letting emotions accrue “like flowers being carefully placed in three delicate arrangements.” Cinematographers Frederick Elmes and Yorick Le Saux, along with editor Affonso Gonçalves, are cited as key collaborators in realizing this vision.
Jarmusch started in the industry when independent film was just about to boom. He was fairly lucky in that regard when it came to his low-do 1984 classic “Stranger Than Paradise.” He’s somehow managed to release 13 feature films since then, highlights among them include “Paterson,” “Broken Flowers,” “Only Lovers Left Alive,” “Down by Law” and “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.”
“Father Mother Sister Brother” is set to hit theaters on December 24 via MUBI.