How I Killed My Father

When his long-time disappeared father is entering his life again, Jean-Luc, a successful doctor, has no option but to face his own life story. Will he ever be able to forget and forgive? Plastic surgeon Jean-Luc lives a luxurious life with his wife Isa. His brother Patrick, with whom he has almost nothing in common, is a successful cabaret artist. One day, out of nowhere, their father Maurice shows up, having returned from exile in Africa. Maurice left the family many years ago, when Jean-Luc and his brother were still young, to work as a doctor in Africa. Now the old man is suddenly there, offering no explanation and showing no sign of remorse. Jean-Luc is disturbed by the presence of this complete stranger, torn between attraction and rejection. Confronting his father also forces him to come to terms with his own history and repressed issues. Isa's life is also turned upside down, not least because she and Maurice become very close emotionally. —Arte Jean-Luc is an established gerontologist who can do no wrong; he runs a private clinic specialising in anti-ageing treatments. Honoured for his work in this field, he throws a garden party at his home. It is during this social event that his father suddenly reappears, back after a long exile. A physician, he had left decades earlier without any apparent reason to practice in Africa. He moves into his son's home for several days, phlegmatically observing everything with an enigmatic smile. He peruses Jean-Luc's life and environment with cruel objectivity. The arrival of this interloper father, who everyone thought had disappeared for good, shatters the family microcosm: Jean-Luc doesn't know how to take him, as if the memory - or the resentment - was nothing but lost time; his wife becomes fond of this highly unconventional man; after first refusing to deal with him, Jean-Luc's younger brother strikes up a modest bond with him. —Sujit R. Varma