Parisian teenager Vincent’s (Victor Ezenfis) quest to track down his absentee father – a pompous literary publisher played by Mathieu Amalric – is the backbone to Eugène Green’s (The Portuguese Nun) stylish and eccentric new film that weaves emotional depth, surrealism and moments of bedroom farce to winning effect. Laden with symbolism from both the Old and New Testaments, with sly references to Caravaggio’s masterpiece The Sacrifice of Isaac, The Son of Joseph is presented in a deliberately formal, artificial style that belies its depth of feeling for Vincent’s dilemma. (Notes by David O’ Mahony)

Director’s note: A teenager’s desperate search for his father is told through stunning formalist cinematic language.

Screening as part of the IFI French Film Festival 2016.