Directed by:
Casey AffleckScreenplay:
Casey AffleckCinematography:
Adam ArkapawComposer:
Daniel HartCast:
Casey Affleck, Anna Pniowsky, Elisabeth Moss, Thelonius Serrell-Freed, Patrick Keating, Tom Bower, Timothy Webber, Hrothgar Mathews, Dee Jay Jackson (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
A father tells his child a story. It is evening, and they are lying in a tent in the middle of the forest. What at first glance appears idyllic turns out to be an exceptional situation: in this post-pandemic world, the father is doing everything in his power to protect Rag. When the exhausted pair is taken in by three old men, danger seems to be averted, and perhaps a home and surrogate family has been identified. But this is a desperate and violent world, and the small measure of peace the parent and child find is soon lost. As humanity teeters on the brink of collapse, it is not the survival of the species that concerns us, it is the single child. But it is the nature of children to demand change. Innocence is lost. Tragedy closes in. And nature looks on, detached. (Berlinale)
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Reviews (5)
"It's nothing Dad, it's a loving adventure..." - I was a bit skeptical at the beginning because of the very slow flow of the plot, but once I understood what it was all about, the story completely engrossed me and I enjoyed every minute of it until the perfectly orchestrated ending. Hats off to Casey Affleck, he did a hell of a job with this one. (80%)
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This is a pleasantly cordial, slow conversational movie packed with natural acting performances from both of the main characters, in which the long monologues and dialogues of the characters take up most of the length of the movie. The dystopian future is merely a backdrop device to this movie, so we do not get to know much about societal collapse, how they are managing to function when there are almost no women left on Earth. Affleck does not even try to reflect the chaos and despair of civilization in decline, such as Cuarón did much more, with the action in Children of Men. However, this movie draws our attention and focuses purely on the father-daughter relationship of the protagonists, which works perfectly and helps the audience empathize with the characters. and keep their fingers crossed for a good outcome. I think Casey Affleck has shown himself to be a very good director here, and he enjoys screenwriting - the last dialogue is an especially nice example of this. [KVIFF 2019]
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Light of My Life is a gentler version of The Road, kept afloat by Affleck’s traditionally effective “emo speech" and an interesting performance by little Anna Pniowsky. It is a very minimalistic film; the only dialogue through nearly the entire runtime is between father and daughter in the woods or in abandoned houses. Plus an examination of their behaviour – survival strategy – consistent with the gradual uncovering of the secret of what happened in their world and how it changed the society that they are avoiding. This is an intimate film for patient and perceptive viewers. Three and a half stars.
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This is an intimate, independent film that takes place in the non-traditional environment of a dystopian future in which almost all women are extinct. The film only marginally deals with the workings of the fictional society and its rules and overwhelmingly relies on the relationship and conversations between the two main characters (a father and his eleven-year-old daughter disguised as a boy), which include everything from analyzing the difference between morality and ethics to a lecture on menstruation. Yet they do not excel though any significant screenwriting prowess that could hold the film up given its slow pace and minimal plot. The films has minimalist story that benefits only from the camping journey of two characters who talk to each other, only meeting others here and there, and in the end they only need stand in the face of danger in order to continue. The film should be praised for its strong atmosphere, precise acting performances and lightness of Affleck's storytelling style.
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Those few flashes of the character of Elisabeth Moss clearly encourage the viewer to make analogies with The Handmaid’s Tale. Affleck’s film certainly overlaps with it, but the atmosphere is very different. Light of my Life is a typical American indie, beautifully shot, where the main action is typically long, with people talking, and other times it’s totally silent. The focus is the relationship between father and daughter, and the post-apocalyptic props are nothing but (tasty) spices. #KVIFF2019
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