June 27, 2005 by Ray Bennett
Words said and words never said speak as loud as actions in Brad McGann's stunning tale of betrayal and loss, "In My Father's Den."
Deliberately paced and finely nuanced, the New Zealand filmmaker's debut feature is beautifully crafted with memorable performances by a fine cast led by Englishman Matthew MacFadyen, who displays all the requisites for major stardom.
Richly atmospheric and suspenseful, "Father's Den" will need canny marketing and some patience to reach the grown-up audience that surely will respond to its dark story.
MacFadyen plays Paul, a successful photojournalist whose evocative pictures of the victims of war have won him fame and a Pulitzer nomination, which he mysteriously withdrew. Paul has returned to the small New Zealand town where he grew up because of his father's death, but he shies away from the funeral, and his welcome is far from warm at the family gathering afterward.