In the 1980s, responding to the "root-seeking" literary trend in the field of literature, a wave of "cultural root-seeking" in the fieldof film art also set off. The fifth-generation and the sixth-generation directors who were deeply influenced by Chinese traditional culture expressed and displayed the deep psychology of the national culture to the audience through the film intentionally or unintentionally. These Chinese films also met the cultural aesthetic psychology of the Chinese audience. These directors had strong cultural awareness. From the perspective of archetype theory, the "root-seeking"culture is essentially the inheritance and pursuit of the traditional patriarchal culture of the modern sub-culture, which is accompanied by cultural criticism and reflection. This paper attempts to use the method of archetypal criticism to broaden the narrow channel of film criticism, collect and analyze the problems that may have been left behind, and make the seemingly random film works in an orderly state. Through the analysis of the archetype of the father and son in the "cultural root-seeking"film since the new era in China, the author believes that the father and son archetype mainly manifests in two aspects in the film. One aspect is father-searching and Electra complex of "cultural root-seeking", the other aspect is patricide and filicide of contradictory confrontation. These father-son archetypes come from ancient myths and are presented in contemporary film art, reflecting the confusion that ancient Chinese traditional culture faced in the process of modernization in the context of globalization. In the impact of the patriarchal traditional culture and the modern subculture, the kids of culture have different cultural choices such as worship and surrender, contradiction and confrontation.