217. The Father; movie review

 

    

THE FATHER

Cert 12A

96 mins

BBFC advice: Contains upsetting scenes, domestic abuse, infrequent strong language

For eight years my grandmother was shrouded in a fug which meant we didn't know if she would recognise us when we visited.

Some days she appeared totally compos mentis and others she would believe that German soldiers had raided the home in the night - 50 years after the Second World War had ended.

It was sad to witness and has fermented a fear that I am going in the same direction every time I cannot remember someone's name or have mislaid my keys, wallet, phone or glasses or possibly all three.

Therefore, Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of a former engineer with dementia encouraged a swell of empathy.

Hopkins plays an octogenarian who is in denial about how much his memory is deserting him.

This is a cause of huge anxiety to his daughter (Olivia Colman) who spends almost all of her time either caring for him or worrying about him.

Florian Zeller represents his confusion by showing what a dementia sufferer may actually experience.

So, there are the obvious memory lapses when it comes to his perception that his watch has been stolen when, in fact, he has forgotten he has put it in a safe place.

But the more serious and even sinister moments are when his daughter appears to be someone else and other people drift in and out of their flat.

For a while, both Mrs W and I wondered what was going on but then it occurred to us that Zeller had deliberately repeated moments and mixed up characters and even their appearances.

"It gives us a small taste of what it must be like to have dementia," observed Mrs W.

And then it all drops perfectly into place with a well-executed if heartbreaking ending.

The Father doesn't have easy resolutions because there are none but it does give its audience a deeper understanding of a horrible condition.

Central to this are two outstanding performances by Hopkins and Colman - two of the finest actors ever to come out of the UK.

Reasons to watch: Hopkins at his magnificent best

Reasons to avoid: Remorselessly downbeat

Laughs: One

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None 

Overall rating: 8.5/10

Did you know? Sir Anthony Hopkins won the Best Actor Academy Award at age 83 for his role in this film which made him the eldest ever winner of an acting Oscar beating the previous record set by Christopher Plummer who had won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar at the age of 82 for Beginners (2010)

The final word. Olivia Colman: "To be as confused as the person, as Anthony Hopkins’s character, was an extraordinary point of view that I'd never considered. Suddenly it felt like, “Oh God, of course, that's how awful it feels.” I can't imagine anything that touches it in quite the same way, and quite so beautifully, as Florian (Zeller)'s script.  Town & Country

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