At the beginning of Michael Dudok de Wit’s “Father and Daughter,” a father and his daughter (didn’t see that coming, did you?) ride their bicycles to the shore of a lake. The father rows off and, as it becomes apparent he’s not returning, the little girl rides away. We watch as the years go by and she grows into adolescence, then adulthood (with children of her own), and finally into an old woman herself. Throughout the passage of time, she constantly returns to the lakeshore in search of any sign that her father is returning.
Director de Wit is probably best known for his 1994 Academy Award™ nominated short film, “The Monk and the Fish.” In “Father and Daughter,” he manages to strike a chord with anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one. With nothing more than charcoal and pencil (and some animation software) and a simple accordion score, he has crafted a hauntingly emotional work using characters who never speak a word.
