The Father (2020)

• Year: 2020
• Released: 26 Feb 2021
• Country: United Kingdom, France, United States
• Adwords: Won 2 Oscars. 35 wins & 157 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10272386/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_father
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-father
• Available in: 720p, 1080p, 720p
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: PG-13
• Genre: Drama, Mystery
• Runtime: 97 min
• Writer: Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller
• Director: Florian Zeller
• Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss
• Keywords: london, england, based on play or musical, father daughter relationship, memory loss, dementia,

	8.2/10
	88/100

The Father Storyline

Having just scared off his recent caregiver, Anthony, an ailing, octogenarian Londoner gradually succumbing to dementia, feels abandoned when concerned Anne, his daughter, tells him she’s moving to Paris. Confused and upset, against the backdrop of a warped perspective and his rapid, heart-rending mental decline, Anthony is starting to lose his grip on reality, struggling to navigate the opaque landscape of present and past. Now, as faded memories and glimpses of lucidity trigger sudden mood swings, dear ones, Anthony’s surroundings, and even time itself become distorted. Why has his younger daughter stopped visiting? Who are the strangers that burst in on Anthony?

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The Father Movie Reviews

Excellent but deeply upsetting

I cannot say what I want to say about this film without spoilers, so please don’t read on if you want to find what happens in the film as it unfolds.

Anthony lives in a flat in London. His daughter Anne calls in on him every day. She is upset and worried because Anthony has driven away another care worker, and Anne is about to move to Paris in a new relationship. Anne’s husband indicates that the flat is Anne’s, not Anthony’s. Anne seems to be an entirely different person,, but then she is Anne again. Her husband is someone different though. Some conversations are repeated. Anthony initially charms, then verbally attacks, Laura, a potential new care worker who reminds him of his other daughter, Lucy, who never comes to see him.

We realise early on that Anthony is in the grip of dementia, and through most of the piece, right up to the end, we are wondering hiw much of what we see is real, and how much is Anthony’s disintegrating memory betraying him. Ultimately, we never know and it doesn’t matter – despite it being very clear how destructive the impact of Anthony’s dementia is on Anne (and possibly her busband – was she married? Was it a factor in the marriage breaking up?), what the film shows us is what it might be like inside the mind of someone whose foothold in the real world is increasingly unreliable.

Anthony Hopkins wins a well-deserved 2nd Best Actor Oscar for a portrayal of a character who is initially unlikeable but, by the end, is almost literally a little lost boy. The rest of the cast are also excellent.

Florian Zeller directs this adaptation of his own play (the adapted screenplay also won an Oscar). It is wise, sad, accurate and compassionate. If you and your family have never been touched by dementia then you may well marvel at the clever and kind telling of a worthwhile story, brought to life by a crew of supremely gifted artists.

My family has been touched by dementia on a number of occasions.

At different times, I saw in this film my grandparents, my mother-in-law, my wife, my father, my mother, my brother and myself, and all at times in our lives which could never be called happy. It struck very close to home, and I found it brutal.

So close to perfect and so personal

This is one of the hardest movie reviews I’ve ever had to write in my life.

Mainly because of the films subject matter, Dementia.

I’ve seen my own father succumb to this dreaded disease and it scares the hell out of my, worse than any horror movie I’ve watched.

I sadly remember some of the last words my own father spoke to me were, “Be a good boy at School today.” I was 46 at the time.

The beauty of “The Father” is how Director, Florian Zeller, takes you into this descent of losing your grip on reality through the eyes of the marvellous veteran and Academy Award wining actor, Sir Anthony Hopkins.

At times his character Anthony is part Hannibal Lecter and at others a peaceful, but confused ageing Father to Olivia Colmans, Anne.

Another Academy Award winner who puts in a highly believable performance as his daughter who’s trying to deal with helping a man who refuses to accept assistance from her or carers.

Fun Fact: Colman was named Anne is both roles she’s been Oscar nominated for.

Also great supporting roles form Mark Gatiss, Olivia Williams, Imogen Poots and Rufus Sewell.

Overall “The Father” has been nominated for 6 Oscars, after already having over 20 wins in other awards and once you’ve seen this film you’ll know why it deserves to win in Hollywood.

At 83, Hopkins, is the oldest winner of a Best Male Actor BAFTA and a dark horse to scoop up the big one.

This film feels like everything he has learnt in his craft is on display effortlessly for 97 minutes.

It’s hard to believe this is Zellers’ feature film directorial debut, because it’s a masterclass in cinema adapted from his own acclaimed play “Le Pere” from 2012.

The role of Anthony was specifically written for Hopkins.

One of the things that got the living legend to agree to this film apart from the top shelf script (adapted by Christopher Hampton) was the inclusion of one of Hopkins favourite pieces of music from Georges Bizet Opera “The Pearl Fishers”.

He’s always dreamt of making a movie with this music in it.

With lines from Anthony like: “I feel as if I’m losing all my leaves” “The Father” is so close to perfect I’m giving it 10 stars.

Brilliant…

Give Anthony Hopkins the Oscar on April 26. He gives you the best performance of the decade. An old man with dementia loses his ties to reality. His mind deteriorates, and reality stops making any sense. This movie will haunt you, especially if you have a relative with dementia. Such a heartbreaking movie. ABSOLUTELY the best movie of the year and the best performance of the year by Hopkins.