As bleak but just as often as exquisitely beautiful as the Australian landscape where it takes place; Romulus; My Father is a film that reminds us that there's no explaining the mystery of family ties--not the ones that bend or even break; and especially not the ones that suffer the most unspeakable hardships. Directed by Richard Roxburgh (the first behind-the-camera effort for an actor whose resume includes roles in Moulin Rouge; Van Helsing; and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen); based on a memoir by Raimond Gaita (played by young Kodi Smit-McPhee); and set in 1960-61; it stars Eric Bana as Rai's father; Romulus; a Romanian-speaking Yugoslav who toils as a blacksmith in the remote Aussie town of Maryborough; where the locals call him Jack. Life is simple but hardly easy; especially when Rai's wayward mother; Christina (Franka Potente) visits from nearby Melbourne. Christina; to put it mildly; is strange; promiscuous; irresponsible; and depressed; sometimes suicidally so; she has only the most tenuous grasp on what it takes to be a mother and wife; and her rare and unannounced visits don't do either father or son much good (especially after she moves in with one of her husband's friends and has another child; whom she cares about even less than she cares about Rai). The cinematography is lovely; and the performances are first-rate (Bana; who no doubt welcomed the opportunity to be in a small; character-driven film after big budget Hollywood epics like Hulk; Munich; and Troy; is excellent). And while there is neither a lot of dialogue nor much in the way of plot (the story consists largely of a series of tragic episodes; most of them with Raimond as the innocent victim); Romulus; My Father still manages to convey some profound; ineffably human feelings. --Sam Graham