After the whole Best Actor debacle at the Oscars this year, I’ve seen people change their rating of The Father from five stars to one. I kid you not. PSA: Don’t blame this movie for the Academy’s voting and the dodgy production of the awards ceremony. It’s not The Father‘s fault, and changing how you view the film because of a shoddy showing at the Academy Awards is utterly ridiculous and childish. We all wanted Chadwick Boseman to win, but that shouldn’t put a damper on how brilliant Anthony Hopkins is here. And trust me, he’s wonderful.
The Father is based on a play of the same name and is directed by Florian Zeller, who also wrote the play and adapted it into a script in order to make the film. The majority of the film is set in one location, which can often make a movie feel too stagey, but that is avoided quite well here for the most part. The overarching plot arc tells the story of an elderly man who is losing his once brilliant cognitive ability due to dementia and Alzheimer’s. His daughter Anne is constantly having a mental battle of her own too, in that she understandably wants to take care of her Dad but is pressured by her husband to put him in a home for assisted living. In brief, it’s all so heartbreaking.
Here’s how I summarised my feelings immediately after watching this film: Ugh. Kill me. I was fully prepared for this to just be Oscar bait. I did not expect it to feel like a punch in the chest 😭
And I stand by it.
The Father is shot so cleanly and with such clarity, which is in complete juxtaposition with the lead character’s state of mind. It has such a simplistic feel to its framing, and it feels so necessary because the story is so stressful to witness. It’s unfathomably hard to believe that this is Florian Zeller’s first directorial credit, because it’s so maturely put together and doesn’t for one second feel like a play as much as it should.
Now, I have to share with you the exact note I made regarding Hopkins/Boseman at the time of watching. (Be aware that I watched The Father the day before the Oscars aired.)
Look, I would not begrudge it whatsoever if Chadwick Boseman took the Best Actor Oscar this year. But Anthony Hopkins is damn perfect in this role. He’ll piss you off and make you laugh and then tear your heart into tiny little pieces and it all seems so effortless. He’s honestly breath-taking. (Olivia Colman is also excellent and should be getting more recognition for this.)
And there you have it. With the benefit of hindsight, obviously I would still rather Boseman took the win. But I was extremely impressed by Hopkins at the time and I still am. Therefore, it didn’t actually come as much of a surprise to me when he was the victor on the night.
But enough about the drama behind the scenes, let’s talk about the brilliance within the film itself. It’s almost impossible to put into words how great the writing is. The way the timeline will confuse you and create such intensity is masterful and mind-boggling, and unlike anything else I’ve ever seen. An utterly devastating story that is all too common in real life; perfectly executed, so haunting and raw and unbelievably sad. Not only that, but it’s packed full of minute details and impressive metaphors that may pass you by if you don’t look closely enough. It’s completely unique, even if on the surface it doesn’t seem so.
Quite simply, The Father is a modern masterpiece in my eyes. I was not expecting to be so impressed by it or by its simplicity, yet here we are. The final scene is one of the most affecting I’ve ever witnessed in film, and the fact that everyone hasn’t given it 5 stars is baffling to me.
Did it resonate more with me because it’s full of Britishness? I don’t know. And all in 97 minutes? Flawless.
The Father is due to be released in the UK on June 11th 2021.
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