THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Sometimes I judge a movie by its title which'll determine if I'll check it out or not. I need to stop doing that because that means I'm overthinking it. The best example goes to The Father, a film that was a festival hit in 2020, but was never theatrically released in the US until the following year.
PLOT
The film follows Anthony, who is suffering from dementia, a chronic/persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by injury/brain disease and marked by memory disorders, personality changes and impaired reasoning. Despite the fact that he is not capable of taking care of himself in his own flat, he refuses to have aid from caretakers hired by his daughter Anne. He acts so stubborn that he gives various caretakers a hard time, making Anne step in more than she wants to. One day, he claims that the last one stole a watch, whereas she tells him that she is moving to Paris. The next day, he sees a man that claims to be Anne's husband and another woman who claims to be Anne, but not really. Another day, he meets his newest caretaker that resembles his second daughter Laura, who he hasn't seen in a while. When visiting a doctor, he claims to not have memory problems, yet doesn't remember that Laura has been dead for some time. As the story progresses, it is revealed that Anthony has been living with Anne and her husband Paul in their flat, mistaking it as his own. Paul is impatient with him since Anne cancelled a vacation trip to Italy, to tend to his needs. He presses on to his wife that he should be in an institution so that she won't need to take care of him anymore. At one point, he even slaps her father for making their lives miserable, unbeknownst to her as she was in another room as it happened. Eventually, Anne caves and puts Anthony in a hospital before she moves to Paris. Anthony would later dream of seeing Laura covered in blood, remembering her die from a terrible accident. He would than wake up in a hospital, greeted by nurses Catherine and Bill. Catherine explains to him how he's been a patient for some time since Anne moved to Paris with Paul, but still visits. As he breaks down over being unable to understand the world around him, the film ends with Catherine giving him comfort and promising him to take him out on a walk.
THOUGHTS
When hearing about this one, I thought I had seen it all but man I was wrong. My reaction to seeing this one was nothing but a big "Whoa" because I was off guard on tragic this film appeared to be. Florian Zeller gave us one of the boldest stories to ever be told. This one comes off so gripping because the depiction of dementia is just as brutal as it appears. There are people who deal with this condition and struggle with it everyday and cannot recover from it. With that in mind, it is an agonizing experience for viewers. I gotta give credit to both Ben Smithard's cinematography and Yorgos Lamprinos' editing because with that combination, we had a hard time figuring out which was and wasn't real, which is the whole point in the world of dementia. We wouldn't appreciate this message without a powerful Oscar winning performance by the legendary Sir Anthony Hopkins. I admit that I wasn’t rooting for him at the time, but I still respect the win nonetheless. When he speaks, you would see him as a firm man but is truly vulnerable as he cannot catch up with the world evolving. Every time he forgets things or mixes things up, all I did was frown because it's depressing to witness. I almost shed tears as he called for his mother because at that moment, he knows how alone he is without his daughters. Although Hopkins can be looked at as a one man show here, the supporting cast do a great job holding their own. Olivia Colman holds up here because she makes Anne as another tragic figure. She is a daughter who loves her father but doesn't want to stop living her life to take care of him. She doesn't want to be selfish but she knows that she can't put up with him everyday, hence giving in to putting him in a hospital. Every time we focus on her, we see that she does get irritated like everyone else, but doesn't want to give up. It was easy to hate Rufus Sewell because he is on point making Paul as selfish as possible. He wants Anne all to himself and doesn't care what happens to Anthony. He really has the big flaws in the movie: He was wrong to talk about putting him in a hospital before dinner. And it was a damn risk slapping him when Anne is in another room. I mean he could've been caught if either she would walk in earlier or he could've left a bruise. Having Olivia Williams and Mark Gatiss do multiple roles as in being part of mistaken as Anthony's family to the nurses that are the last to care for him was very intriguing to witness. This was a genius move to show the protagonist is struggling even harder with his memories. Williams is great at being both woman who are patient, while Gatiss has a 180 going from cruel to friendly. It showed impressive range from both of them. Lastly, Imogen Poots does great appearing as Anthony's last image of Lucy while being the only caretaker that seemed to be patient with him. She is surprised with his choice of words but doesn't take it personal. In general, The Father is a film that deserves all the attention for being a smart yet tragic story. For those who saw the 2012 stage play, I assure you that you won't be disappointed with this.
Comments