I really appreciated this movie, because you can see all the character's angles, but I think we're still supposed to lean with the main character, and I have some thoughts on that. It's subtle, but it's implied that he's the "nice guy" who does everything "out of absolute love for his child" and is "forced" to resort to violence. Which I disagree with. Because in the end, if his actions hurt people, his good intentions amount to zero.
It's hard to know who is telling the truth, who is exagerrating or not, who to trust, they all have (mainly) valid points and it's hard for us viewers to form an opinion from the outside, without having access to any of their background stories or seeing any of the events that are referenced. The guy keeps saying that he's not violent, that he was "pushed" to act like that by his ex and her current partner, but in the end it's our guy who's flipping tables, tying people up and creating chaos in front of the child, the other two seem to take care of the child and at least try to shield her from the drama. So to me, it's the behaviour that counts, and not the justification behind it. He's the one causing drama and subjecting his daughter to violence in the name of love (even if he didn't mean to), and maybe the wife had a point to try to keep him away?
I think he should protect his child from dangerous or traumatic situations if he loves her, but he's doing the exact opposite, and the ex-wife seemed to actually protect her kid. So I'm not sure we should just empathise with him just cause he's the main character. He wants to take her away by all means necessary, but is that for the child's benefit or his pleasure/ambition? Maybe he should've waited for Otilia to come back and talk to her, and not just assume she's doing everything to spite him. Maybe she really was trying to protect the kid, and he was chill about the kid's cold because he really wanted to get away that weekend at any cost. But would that have been that responsible? Who's more stubborn? I'm not sure who's right, to be honest, but at least they didn't start wreaking havoc.
I think Sofia's wellbeing should be the priority, and none of them (and unfortunately the worst in this respect is Marius) seem to be mature enough to understand that. It's actions that matter, not intentions, and Marius's behaviour hurt a lot of people, so it is not excusable in my opinion, even if I can see how he cares about her and how he wants to be in her life and how he's trying to be a good guy. We can't know his intentions, we can just assume they were noble, but the hard truth is that his actions scarred a lot of people that day, so he's not as good a guy as he likes to think and say he is.
Also... The way he switched from begging her to take it back to calling her a wh*re to confessing his love and assaulting her to shouting again... That's just creepy and manipulative. Love? What kind of love is that? Of course that lady wanted to stay away from him and shelter her child from all this drama. The relationship dynamic was hurting the child, not necessarily him or her, and she was wise enough to keep Sofi away from it. This guy doesn't get it that it's not about him, it's about what's best for the kid, and whatever this meeting (maybe others like it before) is not healthy.
His dad needs to grow up too. He cares about him, it's obvious, but why does he choose to show it by shouting at him, humiliating and insulting him? I can see where he gets his unfortunate ideas about love and communication from. People need to learn how to talk respectfully and think before they act, maybe consider what other people are thinking or listen to their side, compromise, think of what their responsibilities and priorities are.
It's hard to know who is telling the truth, who is exagerrating or not, who to trust, they all have (mainly) valid points and it's hard for us viewers to form an opinion from the outside, without having access to any of their background stories or seeing any of the events that are referenced. The guy keeps saying that he's not violent, that he was "pushed" to act like that by his ex and her current partner, but in the end it's our guy who's flipping tables, tying people up and creating chaos in front of the child, the other two seem to take care of the child and at least try to shield her from the drama. So to me, it's the behaviour that counts, and not the justification behind it. He's the one causing drama and subjecting his daughter to violence in the name of love (even if he didn't mean to), and maybe the wife had a point to try to keep him away?
I think he should protect his child from dangerous or traumatic situations if he loves her, but he's doing the exact opposite, and the ex-wife seemed to actually protect her kid. So I'm not sure we should just empathise with him just cause he's the main character. He wants to take her away by all means necessary, but is that for the child's benefit or his pleasure/ambition? Maybe he should've waited for Otilia to come back and talk to her, and not just assume she's doing everything to spite him. Maybe she really was trying to protect the kid, and he was chill about the kid's cold because he really wanted to get away that weekend at any cost. But would that have been that responsible? Who's more stubborn? I'm not sure who's right, to be honest, but at least they didn't start wreaking havoc.
I think Sofia's wellbeing should be the priority, and none of them (and unfortunately the worst in this respect is Marius) seem to be mature enough to understand that. It's actions that matter, not intentions, and Marius's behaviour hurt a lot of people, so it is not excusable in my opinion, even if I can see how he cares about her and how he wants to be in her life and how he's trying to be a good guy. We can't know his intentions, we can just assume they were noble, but the hard truth is that his actions scarred a lot of people that day, so he's not as good a guy as he likes to think and say he is.
Also... The way he switched from begging her to take it back to calling her a wh*re to confessing his love and assaulting her to shouting again... That's just creepy and manipulative. Love? What kind of love is that? Of course that lady wanted to stay away from him and shelter her child from all this drama. The relationship dynamic was hurting the child, not necessarily him or her, and she was wise enough to keep Sofi away from it. This guy doesn't get it that it's not about him, it's about what's best for the kid, and whatever this meeting (maybe others like it before) is not healthy.
His dad needs to grow up too. He cares about him, it's obvious, but why does he choose to show it by shouting at him, humiliating and insulting him? I can see where he gets his unfortunate ideas about love and communication from. People need to learn how to talk respectfully and think before they act, maybe consider what other people are thinking or listen to their side, compromise, think of what their responsibilities and priorities are.