Father Mother Sister Brother: Jim Jarmusch's Misguided Collection of Family Affairs (Blu-ray)

The Film:

Popular indie filmmaker Jim Jarmusch has been working at his craft for nearly half a century, giving us a strange, eclectic group of films that has included "Coffee and Cigarettes," "Broken Flowers," "Only Lovers Left Alive," and "The Dead Don't Die." After taking a lengthy six-year break, he is back with his latest entitled "Father Mother Sister Brother," another small work that received decent reviews after its premiere in Venice last year, but then shocked everyone by subsequently winning the Golden Lion (the festival's top prize), beating films that would go on to compete for Oscars, like "Bugonia," "The Voice of Hind Rajab," and "Frankenstein."

However, the film seemed to strangely disappear after that, continuing to get modest reviews, but hardly being mentioned again on the awards circuit. Now that it's making its physical debut this week, it will have a second chance to find an audience, but is this small indie worth the effort to seek out, or was there a reason behind its odd disappearance following Venice?

The film consists of a series of three vignettes, the first of which takes place in the US and focuses on siblings Jeff (Adam Driver) & Emily (Mayim Bialik) going to visit their father (Tom Waits), whom Jeff is apparently supporting financially after their mother passed away. The second takes place in Dublin and focuses on sisters Timothea (Cate Blanchett) and Lilith (Vicky Krieps) as they visit their mother (Charlotte Rampling) for their annual tea gathering. The third and final segment takes place in Paris, focusing on siblings Billy (Luka Sabbat) & Skye (Indya Moore), who visit their old home after their parents are killed in a plane crash. All three involve estranged family connections and how difficult that can be at times.

"Father Mother Sister Brother" is a rather unusual outing, one in which we're given three short tales that seem to want to say something about connecting, re-connecting, or reminiscing about family, but as to what the true substance that Jarmusch was trying to get at with these episodes is really anyone's guess. We have one pair of siblings basically checking in on their father, another pair sharing a somewhat awkward tea time together with their mother, and another trying to deal with the aftermath of their parents' tragic death, all of which involve slightly different dynamics among the families, but none of which really seem to get anywhere or accomplish much of anything.

Granted, by including three stories, Jarmusch was somewhat limiting himself as to the time he'd have to sketch the various characters involved, but given how two-dimensional they end up being, you would think that he'd have taken a little more time to flesh them out, even if that meant expanding the film by a fair amount to do so. By the end of each of these short tales, it feels like we haven't really gotten to know any of them at all, or rather it would probably be more accurate (and ironic) to say that we haven't learned or spent enough time with them to make any kind of connection that would make us care or get emotionally invested.

By the time the credits roll, and you realize that that connection hasn't been made with any of these characters, you're merely left to wonder what it was all for. As mentioned, Jarmusch clearly wanted to say something about family connections & dynamics, but whatever it was gets lost in three bland, directionless tales that sadly end up having very little to say at all. One can only figure that the Venice jury must've been in a very strange mood that year when they awarded this top prize over several of the other, better options, for when all is said and done, it ends up being one of the beloved indie filmmaker's more forgettable offerings, ultimately showing exactly what happens when not nearly enough attention is given to the stories & characters.

Video/Audio:

"Father Mother Sister Brother" comes to Blu-ray in a 1.85:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of outstanding quality, presenting a sharp, clear picture throughout each of its three tales. Likewise, the 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue & music in excellent quality. Overall, Mubi has done a great job in both areas for the film's physical debut.

Special Features:

None.

Conclusion:

Jim Jarmusch's "Father Mother Sister Brother" has the indie filmmaker offering up three tales that seem to want to say something about family connections & dynamics, but with their two-dimensional characters and under-developed, directionless stories, they sadly end up having very little to say at all, ultimately making for one of the beloved director's more forgettable outings.

Score: 2.5/5

Now available on Blu-ray.

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