Restraint and stillness often go overlooked in family dramas — loud dust-ups and explosive outpourings of emotion are usually favoured instead. While His Father's Son allows pent-up frustration to be released, Meelad Moaphi serves his story by offering audiences a pensive film that's almost passive in nature. It reflects the way that many families usually confront secrets and hurt feelings: a passing storm that's to be weathered, not run away from.
In his directorial debut, Toronto-based Moaphi introduces his audience to Amir (Alireza Shojaei), an aspiring chef working at a French restaurant. Though clearly talented, Amir struggles to find his footing in the industry, awkwardly attempting to bolster his career on social media and promoting himself in the vein of Gordon Ramsey, as his colleague jokes. Amir stands in contrast to his brother Mahyar (Parham Rownaghi), the carefree younger sibling who has seemingly figured out that life works when little effort is used.
When the two brothers and their parents, Farhad (Gus Tayari) and Arezou (Mitra Lohrasb), receive word that a family friend in Iran passed away, their lives don't necessary change overnight, but an inheritance left to Mahyar could certainly improve him and Amir's immediate circumstances. While Mahyar gladly takes the money and gets himself a downtown Toronto condo, Amir has questions for his parents. Who is this person who left over a million dollars to Mahyar? Why haven't they gone back to Iran to visit?
Moaphi, also writer and producer of the film, realizes a universal truth that children only really comprehend in adulthood: our parents have had full lives beyond being our parents. Tayari and Lohrasb both deliver affecting performances that encapsulate this lifetime of understanding, pain and love between a couple in stolen glances and, at times, curt replies. Shojaei and Rownaghi round out the family dynamics perfectly, with their brotherly energy instantly recognizable to anyone with siblings.
As the lead, Shojaei enjoys a rich and layered character arc that the actor lands with aplomb. Interestingly, the most poignant element of Amir's journey in the film goes unaddressed in many ways, when his morally questionable personal life comes head to head with the family secrets he uncovers. We see Amir explode in an emotional drive-by, but it's almost as if he hasn't yet made the connection. Credit to Moaphi's script for respecting his audience's intelligence enough to allow Amir's internal crisis to resonate free of exposition.
Similarly, Moaphi should be commended for his approach to a story about a Canadian immigrant family. In recent years we've seen an outpouring of Canadian films that tell stories about identity and acceptance from the view point of third culture kids; and while many have been incredibly moving and heartfelt, the frequency by which these films were released felt like they were the only stories non-white filmmakers were allowed to tell about their communities.
Moaphi's story finds universal appeal — all families have their issues, some more world-bending than others — and his additions of cultural specificity build the world of Amir and his family, rather than become the point of the film itself. At one point, Farhad asks Amir why he doesn't cook Iranian food; Amir responds dismissively, exemplifying Amir's struggle between his heritage and environment. The family flips between English and Farsi like every multi-lingual household I've ever known; parents speak to each other in their mother tongue, parents speak to their children with a mix of English and mother tongue, children respond in English, and, at times, the oldest (when alone) will respond to their parents in their first language learned.
All of these elements seem obvious — of course a movie about an Iranian-Canadian family will show Persian cuisine and culture — but it's not often enough that we see it as a matter of fact. Moaphi unequivocally shows that compelling movies can contain non-white characters without their ethnicity or racial identity being either belaboured or ignored.
Balance is the key to His Father's Son, whether in Moaphi's portrayal of Amir and his family, or the mixture of a family drama with a slice of life movie. It's in this balance that Moaphi finds an authenticity that audiences of all stripes can find connection.