Father's Garden: The Love of My Parents

Documentarist Peter Liechti’s parents have been together for 62 years – long enough to have instituted a daily routine capable of alienating them from one another. But despite the fact that their lives are truly governed by established customs, it doesn’t mean they have ceased behaving toward each other with love or, conversely, the occasional reproach. In his highly personal documentary the director acts at once instinctively and shrewdly, thereby managing to do justice to various nuances in his parents’ characters. Here they represent the archetypes of the obstinate man and the determined woman who, despite their differences, live together happily. Liechti portrays his mother and father with great openness in the segments devoted to their everyday lives, but especially when he gives ear to their old-age complaints. But the overall tone of the film is conciliatory, aided by the way in which he captures their charming, old-fashioned household and their well-established order. Carefully selected music by the likes of Morton Feldman and John Cage furthers the film’s unostentatious rhythm. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)