Father Mother Sister Brother (Blu-ray Review)
Opening with a pretty fantastic logos, credits and title sequence, writer-director (and musician) Jim Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother weaves a tale of 3 short stories, separated by ethereal interstitials though connected by a handful of bits (e.g. the odd fascination with skaters, particular phrases, and a certain “ritual”), which explore themes of family dynamics and relationships, particularly among adult siblings with their parents. Jarmusch gathered a noteworthy ensemble of actors including Adam Driver, Cate Blanchett, Charlotte Rampling, Tom Waits, Mayim Bialik, Indya Moore and others.
Film ★★★☆☆
Starting with the weakest of the three stories, Father is very obvious with its comedy and the commentary feels very much like that from an older man. Driver does a nice job of playing the casually inept son (and sucker) of Waits’ titular father, opposite Bialik the more normal and aware sister. Waits and Driver are putting in some nice character work, but it’s hard to escape the tired feeling of the segment. Considering the fan speculation that Heath Ledger based his The Dark Knight’s Joker performance on Waits, the short is significantly more fun when viewed as an aged and long-retired version of the Joker resigning to a more normal life – yet still messing with his children. It’s fine, but not as engaging as the next two shorts.
Mother is arguably the best of the 3 segments. Rampling stars as the titular mother, a stoic woman who gives the vibe that she’s aware she was overly particular and judgy in raising her daughters, yet will likely never apologize (though will be warmer as a human). Blanchett is in fun, slightly uptight nebbish character mode as one of the sisters, opposite Vicky Krieps’ more angsty and eccentric sister. The awkwardness, tension and general subtle differences between the actors is really fun to watch. The short is very good, bordering on great, thanks to a general pulpiness and playfulness throughout (plus the dripping subtext), but missing a little something from fully getting there (a somewhat abrupt ending doesn’t help). Krieps holds her own against two powerhouses in Blanchett and Rampling, almost to the point of stealing the spotlight.
Sister Brother is an intriguing final segment (and the longest), and not quite as good as Mother, but still nice. Moore and Luka Sabbat star as the titular characters (and twins), but this segment differs from the previous two as the parents in this have sadly passed. This segment deals with their grief and loss, and how that dynamic impacts them – particularly with regards to what “home” means (along with moving beyond said “home”). Again, it’s nice, and the right choice of the 3 to end the film.
Jarmusch pairs with Annika Henderson to create the music for the movie, which is very serene, atmospheric, and moody in a contemplative way.
Cinematographers Frederick Elmes and Yorick Le Saux successfully bring Jarmusch’s low-budget, mildly globetrotting vision to life.
The movie is as much a hangout ensemble as it is a character study, as the actors have a good amount of breathing room, for which it’s a nice effort on the whole. Closer to a 6.5/10 rounded down.
Video ★★★★☆
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
HDR: N/A
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Clarity/Detail: The movie looks excellent on bluray, easily noticing fine facial details on the actors, such as wrinkles, hair, flesh tones, blemishes and the like. Clothing is also very good, often noticing textures when in the right lighting. Details are noticeable on elements just out of focus, such as sheet music on the piano or the desserts on the table. The picture is inherently missing the “pop” of bigger budget blockbusters, but is at least great, if not excellent, for a quieter low-budget movie.
Depth: While the film isn’t the most cinematic, often using indoor shots (whether a building or a car), there’s good perspective when separating foreground and background elements. Shots where the focus shifts within the scene are handled well. It’s fun to look at the backgrounds of the cityscapes and landscapes, as there’s almost a painterly vibe for the framing.
Black Levels: Blacks are arguably one of the weaker aspects of the picture, lacking a rich depth due to the color issue discussed below – at least for the first two segments. The third segment handles black better, such as the leather of the twins’ jackets.
Color Reproduction: There’s a nice variety of colors on display throughout the segments, marred every so much by a slightly washed out appearance. Blue tends to be the dominant color of an overall somewhat cool palette (especially in Father), but reds (and similar pinks and purples) have a solid pop, such as Rampling’s dress and makeup; particularly in the Mother segment. Sister Brother does have a more neutral palette to match the heartwarming vibe.
Flesh Tones: Factoring in the various ages of the main characters, flesh tones are on full display here, easily seeing the subtle differences throughout various body parts, such as faces and hands.
Noise/Artifacts: Mubi’s transfer is very solid and possibly the best aspect of the disc. There’s only the sublest of fine layers of noise throughout, but for a 2020s low budget movie, the transfer looks pretty great.
Audio ★★★★☆
Audio Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English 2.0 DTS-HD MA, Audio Described
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, French SDH, Spanish, Spanish SDH
Dynamics: Dialogue, occasional SFX, and emptiness are the main sound factors for the film, and the disc respectfully brings all to life in a satisfying way. You can feel the space between characters talking in a way that’s almost a character itself (especially in the third segment). Whether in the city or the middle of nowhere, the environments feel alive. As well, the film’s version of “Spooky” is particularly fantastic for both low frequency and surround.
Height: N/A
Low Frequency Extension: Bass comes mostly into play when the film’s score occurs, which does a nice job of giving those moments a moody vibe.
Surround Sound Presentation: Audio is mostly centered, focusing on when and where the characters are talking (centered to picture). It’s on-point for a smaller, more intimate character piece.
Dialogue Reproduction: As dialogue is the primary audio for the movie, reproduction is nice, cleanly and clearly hearing everything, whether characters are talking loudly or whispering. There’s likely some subtle compression or distortion, but nothing too distracting.
Extras ☆☆☆☆☆
No extras are provided.
Summary ★★★☆☆
Father Brother Sister Mother may not have the strongest start with the Father segment, but quickly after earns its keep with the Mother segment, before departing with the sentimental Sister Brother segment. Despite a good 6-year gap in directorial efforts, director-writer-musician Jim Jarmusch maintains his quirky, wry eccentricities to deliver a film more thoughtful, contemplative and funny than his prior effort (2019’s The Dead Don’t Die), albeit from a voice that’s a bit older and less hip than the zeitgeist. Mubi does an excellent job of bringing the film to bluray in the technicals, despite lacking any extras. Recommended.
