Portrait of My Father review β mysterious death of father is start-point of riveting film
Juan Ignacio FernΓ‘ndez Hoppeβs documentary tries to pin down a true record of the father he lost aged eight, but the struggle to find it is what compels attention
What are the pieces that make up a life? This thorny question lies at the heart of Juan Ignacio FernΓ‘ndez Hoppeβs riveting, emotional documentary, whose structure resembles a detective story. When Hoppe was only eight years old, his father Juan JosΓ© FernΓ‘ndez died on a lonely beach in the Uruguayan resort town of Salinas. Along with the official authorities, Hoppeβs psychologist mother accepted the cause of death to be drowning, but the film-maker himself has his doubts.
While this death might have been the jumping-off point, Hoppeβs inquiry fascinatingly expands, as it takes in the years that led up to that one fateful night. Against a white background, objects once owned by Hoppeβs father resurface in the filmβs opening scenes, their presentation echoing the scene of an archaeological excavation. A rusty key; a piece of crumpled paper; a tape recorder. Each memento offers a fragile clue to FernΓ‘ndezβs final hours: a man with musical talents and ambitions, Hoppeβs father was also plagued by depression, which ultimately led to the breakdown of his marriage and a dependence on prescription drugs.
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