science

Romulus, My Father (film)

Romulus, My Father (film) is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Romulus, My Father (film) rather than just read about it. In short: Romulus, My Father is a 2007 Australian drama film directed by Richard Roxburgh. Based on the memoir of the same name by Raimond Gaita, the film tells the story of Romulus (Eric Bana) and his wife Christine (Franka Potente), and their struggle in the face of great adversity to raise their son, Raimond, played by the nine-year-old Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Key takeaways

Romulus, My Father (film) belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Romulus, My Father (film) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Romulus, My Father (film) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Romulus, My Father is a 2007 Australian drama film directed by Richard Roxburgh. Based on the memoir of the same name by Raimond Gaita, the film tells the story of Romulus (Eric Bana) and his wife Christine (Franka Potente), and their struggle in the face of great adversity to raise their son, Raimond, played by the nine-year-old Kodi Smit-McPhee. The film marks the directorial debut for Australian actor Richard Roxburgh. It was commended in the Australian Film Critics Association 2007 Film Awards.

Plot The film tells the story of Romulus Gaita, a Yugoslavian immigrant to Australia after World War II and his struggle to bring up his son, Raimond, in an isolated shack in the Victorian bush. Raimond's mother has an undiagnosed mental illness and engages in promiscuous behaviour, before taking her own life, and Raimond has to deal with the deterioration of his father's mental health.

Cast Eric Bana as Romulus Gaita, the father of Raimond. Kodi Smit-McPhee as Raimond Gaita, the son of Romulus and Christine. Franka Potente as Christine Gaita, the mother of Raimond and the wife of Romulus. Marton Csokas as Hora, friend of Romulus, and temporary father figure for Raimond while his father is in a psychiatric hospital. Russell Dykstra as Mitru Jacek Koman as Vacek Alethea McGrath as Mrs Lillie Terry Norris as Tom Lillie Esme Melville as Miss Collard Heather Mitchell as Television Presenter

Production Roxburgh wanted to make a film straight after reading the book, Romulus, My Father, given to him by his sister. However, there were seven years between his first meeting with Gaita and the film's release. Gaita fielded several offers soon after the publication of the book, but turned them down "because it's very hard to make a film about people with mental illness without being kitschy or in some way offensive". Although Gaita warmed to Roxburgh after meeting him in London, it was not until Roxburgh had secured Robert Connolly and John Maynard as producers that Gaita felt that he could trust the three of them to make a good film. Roxburgh later described making the film as "absolutely terrifying", because he didn't want to mess it up. Gaita said finding nine-year-old Kodi Smit-McPhee to play the young Raimond was a turning point because he "miraculously captured exactly as I felt".

Locations

In an article with The Guardian, the director, Richard Roxburgh, said that they'd shot the film on location, "Very close to where Rai’s house once stood" in Frogmore, NSW.

Ballarat, Victoria Bendigo, Victoria Carisbrook, Victoria Castlemaine, Victoria Maldon, Victoria Maryborough, Victoria

Soundtrack "Real Wild Child" (Johnny O'Keefe, Dave Owens, John Greenan) — Jerry Lee Lewis "My Prayer" — The Platters

Awards Winner, Golden Tripod Award, Australian Cinematographers Society — 2007 Winner, AFI Award for Best Film, Best Lead Actor (Eric Bana), Best Supporting Actor (Marton Csokas), and Young Actor's Award (Kodi Smit-McPhee) – 2007 Nominated, AFI Award for Best Cinematography (Geoffrey Simpson), Best Costume Design, Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Lead Actor (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Best Lead Actress (Franka Potente), Best Original Music Score, Best Production Design, Best Screenplay, Best Sound, Best Supporting Actor (Russell Dykstra), Best Supporting Actress (Esme Melville) – 2007 Winner, Australian Screen Sound Guild Award for Best Achievement in Sound for Film Sound Recording — 2007 Nominated Australian Screen Sound Guild Award for Best Achievement in Sound for Film Sound Design, Best Achievement in Sound for Film Sound Mixing, Feature Film Soundtrack of the Year — 2007 Winner, FCCA Award for Best Actor in Supporting Role [Marton Csokas) – 2008 Winner, Special Achievement Award, FCAA to Kodi Smit-McPhee — 2008 Nominated, FCAA Award for Best Actor (Eric Bana), Best Actor in Supporting Role (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Film, Best Music Score — 2008 Nominated, Young Artist Awards, Best Performance in an International Feature Film (Kodi Smit-McPhee)

Box office Romulus, My Father grossed $2,589,674 at the box office in Australia.

References

External links Official website Romulus, My Father at IMDb Romulus My Father at Oz Movies Romulus, My Father is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive Romulus, My Father at the National Film and Sound Archive Interview with the cast at the Australian movie premiere on WHO.com

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Romulus, My Father (film)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Romulus, My Father (film) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Romulus, My Father (film) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Romulus, My Father (film) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Romulus, My Father (film)

In research: Romulus, My Father (film) appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Romulus, My Father (film) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Romulus, My Father (film) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2007 English-language films, 2007 biographical drama films, 2007 directorial debut films, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Romulus, My Father (film) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Romulus, My Father (film) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Romulus, My Father (film) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Romulus, My Father (film) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Romulus, My Father (film) in simple terms?

Why does Romulus, My Father (film) matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Romulus, My Father (film)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Romulus, My Father (film).