Taking place in rural New South Wales, in a slowly dying logging town, Simon Stone's The Daughter is a dramatically charged, character-driven story, which explores the organic conflict that exists between pride and forgiveness, detailing how the destructive nature of past deceits, lies, and mistakes often threaten the livelihood of individuals present and potential future. The story itself is centered around Christian, a young man who returns to his family home in New South Wales for the wedding of his father, Henry, a wealthy man and owner of the local mill. While nothing about The Daughter's narrative is overly didactic, it is apparent early on that Christian harbors animosity for his father, a powerful man in the local community, who recently had to close down the local mill, displacing much of the community. Christian's animosity towards his father isn't spelled out at first, but as the narrative progresses it becomes clear that he blames his father for the death of his mother, who took her own life several years ago. Reconnecting with his childhood friend Oliver, who is happily married with a daughter, Christian's return to New South Wales slowly unearths long-buried secrets about his father's past, secrets which eventually threaten to shatter the lives of everyone involved. The Daughter is a film that unfolds with great mystery and intrigue, beautifully juxtaposing the serene Aussie landscapes, the tranquility of nature, with the slowly building conflict between its characters, one where long dormant secrets are slowly revealed, threatening to shatter the very foundation of which character's have built their lives upon. A film that doesn't shy away from melodrama, The Daughter details a portrait of a character in Christian who is deeply suffering, consumed by his personal failures while simultaneously haunted by the guilt and animosity towards his father, a man he views responsible for his mother's death. Christian's own pain and anguish eventually becomes toxic and combustible, with his venom towards his father threatening not only his father's own happiness but also that of his close friend Oliver. Through this examination of Christian, The Daughter documents a character whose broken, whose inability to forgive leads him down more pain and anguish, detailing how a vengeful persona only causes more pain for everyone involved. Without going into details, as The Daughter as a narrative is cleverly structured with quite a few revelations throughout, Simon Stone has crafted a film that captures the intermingled relationship between self-doubt, pride, pain, and forgiveness, detailing in Christian a character whose pain breeds disdain, ultimately leading to more destruction around him. Pride often stands in the way of forgiveness, as self-sorrow itself can create a venomous effect on others, clouding one's judgement while making it nearly impossible to move forward and get better. These character repeatedly stumble and fall, with Oliver himself falling victim to his own version of pride-based sorrow that in itself threatens the life of someone he holds dear. The Daughter is a film full of emotion, pain, but ultimately a story of unbridled hope and forgiveness, a film that loudly in its final frame demands that all of us as individuals try and think outside of our own sorrow, understanding that pain, self-doubt, and self-inflicting anguish often not simply internally-focused, as they often cause unintended strife externally in those we care about. Far from an uplifting experience, Simon Stone's The Daughter is a well-designed, intricately constructed narrative exploring the organic conflict which exists between pride, pain and forgiveness, detailing in essence the overall importance of optimism, empathy, and self-positivity from both an internal and external perspective.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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