Family Matters: A look at families in film

Every two years, my husband’s family has a reunion. Several generations attend and it gives everyone a chance to reconnect and even to meet family members whom they’ve never met before. While my husband and I were celebrating this year’s reunion in Prince Edward Island, Canada, I found myself thinking about movies about family. The best movies show various family dynamics and resonate with audiences when people can relate to the characters and to the situations they face, and recognize aspects of their own families in them.

There are many great movies about family. Below are a few notable mentions:

The Godfather

Largely viewed as the one of the best films ever made, The Godfather is a crime saga about the head of a Mafia family and his sons, the youngest of whom reluctantly assumes his father’s role as Don, leads the family into a new era of organized crime, and seeks revenge upon those who tried to eliminate them.

The Kids Are All Right

A smart, heartwarming story about the kids of a same-sex couple conceived by artificial insemination and about how their family is affected when they search for and find their biological father.

Magnolia

Paul Thomas Anderson’s patchwork of a film with a series of different characters whose stories are interconnected and laden with serious family issues like abuse, estrangement, alienation, infidelity, remorse and terminal illness.

National Lampoon’s Vacation Series

I couldn’t help but think of the Griswolds when writing about families in film. They’re the quirky, yet close-knit, loving family whose luck goes sour when they attempt to make plans for family holidays and vacations. No Christmas season is complete without at least one viewing of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Father of the Bride

It’s the sweet story of George and Nina Banks, two parents who go above and beyond to give their daughter the perfect wedding, and how hard it is for them to face the fact that their little girl is all grown up and leaving home.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

This is a movie near and dear to my heart because my mother is Greek and I’ve been to a few big, fat Greek weddings in my lifetime. This film is about Toula, a young Greek woman who falls in love with Ian, a non-Greek man, and the obstacles they face before walking down the aisle like gaining the acceptance of Toula’s father who always hoped Toula would marry a nice Greek boy, Ian’s struggle to be embraced by Toula’s large family and how he deals with being thrust into the Greek culture.

What are your favourite movies about family? Let us know in the comments section.