Played as an episodic collection of memories throughout his childhood, the big screen adaptation of Facionlince’s book won’t fully hit you until you least expect it.

| Dec 22, 2022

The film takes a heartfelt look at one of Colombia’s foremost human rights activists. Director Fernando Trueba adapts Héctor Abad Faciolince’s memoir with sensitivity while Sergio Iván Castaño cinematography making this a pleasurable viewing experience.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 20, 2022

Hector Abad Faciolince wrote his cherished memoir to “rescue his (father’s) memory from oblivion.” This touching and frank film rescues his dad's memory as well.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 19, 2022

With "Memories of My Father," Trueba achieves a formidable balancing act by balancing Quiquin's sweet memories with the political tension that dominates his hometown.

| Dec 10, 2022

While the political side of “Memories,,,” is boldly told, it is the story of family and love that stays with me.

| Original Score: B | Dec 9, 2022

Director Fernando Trueba’s adaptation flattens the doctor’s achievements and humanity into an unwieldy, lovesick ballad from son to father -- with a style that’s often cheesy and sometimes just plain shoddy.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 8, 2022

That doesn’t make it a bad movie by any stretch, but it does make it one of the filmmaker’s least interesting recent endeavors

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 6, 2022

The 1983 ‘present day’ is presented in black and white and, in addition to introducing the film, provides its last act, but it is the burnished gold memories beginning in 1971 that give the film its heart and are the most pleasurable aspect of the film.

| Original Score: B | Dec 2, 2022

As a portrait of a father-son connection... it's quite moving.

| Nov 30, 2022

Too much of the film lacks sufficient conflict and an organic sense of storytelling.

| Nov 25, 2022

Combining wistful nostalgia with edgy political drama, this hybrid period piece is heartfelt if uneven, with solid performances elevating a mediocre script.

| Nov 23, 2022

Those seeking a pleasantly expansive, somewhat old-school dose of laughter and tears — one not so distant from the director’s Oscar-winning “Belle Epoque” three decades ago — will enjoy this handsomely produced tale.

| Nov 18, 2022

While Trueba’s skill in working with actors and his handling of the tone never allows “Memories” to head into unpalatable, saccharine territory, there’s no denying the portrayal of the revered man doesn’t much include any darker, unflattering shades.

| Nov 16, 2022

A bracingly affectionate biopic that compels despite (and because) of its unapologetic sentimentality, Fernando Trueba’s Memories of My Father pays loving tribute to someone who took comfort in the knowledge that he would be forgotten.

| Original Score: B- | Nov 16, 2022

In the Oscar-winning director Fernando Trueba’s treacly melodrama, “Memories of My Father,” the titular memories are mostly positive — and often unabashedly reverential.

| Nov 16, 2022

Mildly engaging, sappy, overstuffed and undercooked, but elevated by moving performances, especially by the charismatic Javier Cámara.

| Nov 15, 2022

(...) a key point that no one can forget, the love of a good man, who gave his life not only for his own family but for the people of his country. And the filmmaker and the team that managed to capture a glimpse that sometimes only literature can.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 14, 2022

Although the film does not paper over the sourer (or bloodier) aspects of Faciolince’s memoir, Memories of My Father is foremost a tribute to a man that the author plainly idolized.

| Nov 2, 2022

Crafted more from nostalgia than from memory, though at times they feed and confound one another, and with an allegorical use of black and white, Memories of My father, like Cuarón's Roma, is a family portrait. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 28, 2022

Be sure to have tissues on hand, you'll need them. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 8.5/10 | Nov 4, 2021