Lies My Father Told Me

(Canada)

Pentimento/Pentacle VIII. Director Jan Kadar; Producer Anthony Bedrich, Harry Gulkin; Screenplay Ted Allan; Camera Paul Van Der Linden; Editor Edward Beyer, Richard Marks; Music Sol Kaplan; Art Director Francois Barbeau

Yossi Yadin
Len Birman
Marilyn Lightstone
Jeffrey Lynas
Ted Allan
Barbara Chilcott

Set in Montreal in the 1920s, this centres on an emotional relationship between a young boy, portrayed by newcomer Jeffrey Lynas, and his aged, peddler grandfather, played by Israeli actor Yossi Yadin. Threatening this relationship at all times is the boy's hard luck, no talent father, etched by a ruggedly vigorous Len Birman, and his long-suffering mother, a dramatic leavening force played by Marilyn Lightstone.

The grandfather spins fanciful tales for the boy, and takes him on his peddling rounds, while the father tries to wheedle money from him for various unsuccessful invention schemes.

Czech director Jan Kadar has assembled a topnotch, uniformly handsome cast and his lingering over certain moments is a decided virtue. Lies My Father Told Me is an absorbing nostalgic trip for anyone who has ever felt close to a grandparent, and it is a powerful but never pushy statement.

1975: Nomination: Best Original Screenplay

(Color) Available on VHS. Extract of a review from 1975. Running time: 103 MIN.

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