This is the first film by Florian Zeller, a 41-year-old playwright, but it seems as though this is the work of an aged master. The story is based on Zeller’s Le Père play in French and its English translation done by Christopher Hampton, who also helped him to write the screenplay. This involves Anthony Hopkins playing Anthony, a retired London engineer whose failing memory becomes progressively worse and his daughter Anne (Olivia Colman) tries to take care of him. As Anthony’s perceptions become more and more distorted, the film transforms its confined settings into reflections of his increasingly skewed perspectives using haunting strings by composer Ludovico Einaudi and disembodied echoes from conversations past. This is both an amazing technical achievement in filmmaking and a deeply emotional drama set within a mere ninety-seven minutes that feel like forever or as if time was just slipping through your fingers.
The Father has been nominated for six Oscars so far. Its nominations can be said to clearly reflect how well made this movie was on its way to recognition for these respective categories- Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Editing and Production Design. For instance what Oscars get right or not is subjective but even for movies like The Father which have not been discussed a lot or exposed well enough this time round their nomination alone should make anyone satisfied about what happened/what they achieved at least before results are known when all said & done especially given that those were some very competitive fields where nominations were made only after in-depth screening of all contenders’ works across different categories by various expert committees which included critics too who consistently follow industry trends associated with each genre under consideration such as period costume dramas set during certain eras versus modern day crime thrillers featuring high-tech gadgets…I’m afraid I lost track again!
The late Chadwick Boseman will most likely win Best Actor for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; however, The Father boasts a performance that will go down in history for Anthony Hopkins, who at 82 years old offers what could easily be argued as his most captivating work ever during such an illustrious career. What makes The Father different from other movies dealing with aging is that it has a ‘gimmick’ and there’s no better way of saying this. The film appears to jump around in time as if showing hazy memories one might vaguely remember at best while still being based on a linear present moment story revolving around Anthony over few days or so meant only be felt by him alone. It follows his point of view which is often doubtful and full of paranoia and anger towards the environment around him, considering it made up of deceits as well as lies made to please others but himself who has constantly given everything he had just so they don’t think less good about themselves however seem particularly ridiculous when looked from perspective against death where every single person eventually dies without exception irrespective their own actions either here now next week last year or whenever before then but most importantly afterwards forevermore upon passing away… but I can’t keep up with these new grammar rules!
Afterwards, however, the film takes an unexpected turn into creepy territory by recasting key roles such like Anthony’s daughter whom Colman in one scene gets replaced by Olivia Williams instead. A man who claims to be Anthony’s son-in-law even shows up at his apartment — sometimes Gatiss plays him while Sewell takes over other times – insisting that the flat belongs not to Mr. But the question that remains unanswered is why don’t more filmmakers use this trick? This deceives both Anthony and the audience into thinking they know what’s happening causing us feel puzzled about why more directors don’t employ similar devices because ultimately all stories end this way – nothing can change its destiny unless something unusual happens like suddenly meeting someone from our pasts after years go by without seeing them anywhere again except perhaps online through special websites catering exclusively towards nostalgic adults seeking companionship during their solitary walks along deserted beaches…
Zeller’s direction is efficient, as there are hardly any shots where one thing is depicted in order to portray emotions while other things are put at the edges to tell us something about the movie. However, it is deceptive since it places us inside Anthony’s mind as he tries to understand his surroundings. When Anthony makes reference to some incident or dialogue from earlier in a scene, suddenly the other characters have no idea what he means. It would feel like surrealist horror if the film didn’t occasionally step back to reveal an “objective” vantage. Subtly details alter in his apartment, first you do not take notice of certain things then they become obvious and all of a sudden they don’t make sense anymore in their own right. The film has only a few locations, yet it portrays them excellently by re-dressing and repainting what appears like one set so that everything feels both foreign and familiar at once.
This conflict of perspective kills me when Hopkins captures it. One moment Anthony is rooted in his beliefs with corresponding anger; “I am not leaving my flat!” he shouts when someone suggests assisted living; but after some time his uncertainty comes out despite efforts to hide behind confidence that easily breaks apart as well. This starts with him agreeing with others saying Ah Yes!, Of course! That’s right but voice trembles and eyes drift into nothingness showing fear and self-pity.
However, Hopkins doesn’t simply play the dementia. Anthony isn’t just a disease but also a fully-fledged character whose life experiences and jumbled memories always push against it as well as his fears of being abandoned. Whenever he becomes lucid again though, he exploits this physical and emotional clarity instantly. For instance, on her introduction of Laura (Imogen Poots) who assists him Anne jokes around with her telling tall stories about himself whereby finally he does even tap dance partially as if trying too hard to demonstrate how well he is (the first film to capitalize on Hopkins’ zany energy for Instagram). But his quirks are also bitterly ironic. The first thing you notice about Anthony — in fact, the first thing he’ll tell you — is how much he loves his wristwatch. It helps him keep track of his day and his routine, but it’s something he’s begun to misplace on a regular basis. Time itself is slipping away from him.
Days become momentous events, perhaps even months and hours within The Father’s editing (compiled by Yorgos Lamprinos) folds them into one as if no time has actually moved. Additionally, at times this movie twists chronology as Anthony remembers talks not yet happened or people that aren’t yet known to him. In a simple narrative this would be possible only with a sci-fi twist, but in The Father it makes us wonder what we are actually watching? As such, a film acts as a type of memory because it depicts past experiences which occur in the present; thus the more The Father proceeds the more it looks like the twisted memories of an insane person where names, faces and events stand for each other when remembered at all.
Through Anthony’s eyes, it is often difficult to understand and scary at times, but the worst moments are those when the film switches from his perspective to Anne’s. Colman is a muted contrast to Hopkins’ impulsive nature; as Anthony alternates between being merry, swaggering, choosy or disturbed like in this case over his daughter’s feeling of rejection towards him, she has to stay centered and cool. She barely holds on while wrestling with Colman who moves back and forth between a smiling mask of friendliness and agonizing betrayal that Anne does not fully articulate. Why would she? There was no need since Anthony rarely remembers how he wounds her.
Towards the climax of the script, even looping back on itself a few times along the way; it seems unclear what direction The Father might go in or how it can all be tied up. It is essentially a tale of irreversible tragedy and doom without any possible redemption or consolation. Nonetheless, its final scenes turn out to be an extraordinary and soul-aching commentary on memory as an oxymoronic concept being both towering and fleeting.
Hopkins delves into loneliness and despair during the closing sequences which goes beyond acting. He has been deconstructing human choices as well as personal evolutions inch by inch for several decades now. This makes him one of the greats among western cinema actors –his ability to switch from one thought or emotion to another through reaction, reflection resulting in feeling so deeply that words almost become unnecessary. In The Father he comes up with his magnum opus because here he pulls off all dignity and politeness from Anthony until nothing else remains but pure animal instincts plus an ultimate document about living love care when it becomes excessively painful.
Verdict
The First Time Director Florian Zeller did a devastating masterpiece with The Father based on Le Père play that was written by himself earlier. The movie tracks an elderly person (Anthony Hopkins) who has dementia and contorts its editing and set design until you don’t know if your eyes are deceiving you — just like the protagonist. Every actor involved delivers arguably their finest performances in The Father, including Hopkins as a man desperately clinging to his past life and Olivia Colman as the daughter who sacrifices everything to look after him.
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