Niall McKay: The Bass Player – A Song for Dad
It is one of those films where you wonder if this is going to be private OR personal = something that would have been better to keep in the family circle OR a film with a universal appeal. The latter is absolutely the case and the reason is obvious – Irish director Niall McKay is a skilled storyteller and the character he brings to us, the bass player, his father, appears to be charming and charismatic in a very relaxed and reflective way.
The narrative is quite simple. Niall, the director and son, goes to Zürich to help his father pack his things for a return to Ireland after the death of the woman with whom he lived. Jim, the father, tells wonderfully how he met her, and in general these conversations on the journey, between father and son, are quite light hearted and warm. It is very often a son who asks his father to give him some tricks on Life. The father says, he can’t, but he does so anyway to a son, who is just about to get married, and who makes his proposing to his dear Marissa, on camera. The same goes for the wedding. The two also go back in time to talk about the mother, who took her own life. Yes, there are dramatic events in this family story but they are always presented in a decent manner that makes you able to reflect and make parallels to your own life. And in this way the film becomes moving through a tone that is never aggressive but always full of respect.
Irish can be difficult to understand, and I was happy that the director provided me with a subtitled version.
Ireland, 62 mins., 2008/9, taster and director-interview on sites below
http://www.filmireland.net/2009/07/31/niall-mckay-director-of-a-song-for-dad/
