Review: The Father

Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Everything from a misplaced watch to a chicken dinner takes on particular menace in Florian Zeller's film adaptation of his play, "The Father," and the picture is shot like a horror movie - which, similar to Michael Haneke's incredible "Amour," it sort of is. Anthony Hopkins gives a heroic late career performance as Anthony, a man who is slowly deteriorating due to dementia as his daughter, Anne (Olivia Colman), attempts to figure out where she'll place him after he's clearly no longer able to live on his own.

The film is unique in that it places the viewer in the head of a person suffering from the disease and scene after scene in the picture comes from the perspective of someone who is confused and often frightened by the strange turn of events that continue through the film's repeating cycles. One character suddenly becomes another, while storylines continuously change - that is, because Anthony can never quite get a grasp on what the truth is.

As the film opens, Anne tells Anthony that she has met a man and will move to Paris from London to live with him. She's attempting to find a live-in caretaker to watch over him and, if that fails, she will consider putting him in some sort of long-term care facility where he can be watched over. Anthony is clearly smart - he is surrounded by art, often listens to classical music and his arguments, despite being colored by his disease, show evidence of someone who's lived a life of being thought clever.

But stories begin to dissolve into each other. At first, Colman portrays his daughter, but then Olivia Williams suddenly pops up as the daughter, and later she's the caretaker. In between, Imogen Poots shows up as a sunny and cheerful caretaker with whom Anthony appears to enjoy flirting - but she does look very similar to Laura, Anthony's other daughter, who died some time ago in an accident, although Anthony also struggles with recalling that information when it's presented to him by Anne.

While at the beginning, Anne tells Anthony that she's going to live with a man in Paris, a man who's apparently her husband - at times played by Mark Gattis, while at others portrayed by Rufus Sewell - often intrudes into various scenes, and we get the idea that Anthony is living with his daughter and her husband, much to the latter's chagrin.

During several scenes, Anthony frets about where he's placed his watch - and we learn early on that a housekeeper has quit after he angrily accused her of stealing it - while during others, there is confusion about a chicken dinner that Anne serves to Anthony and the man who seems to be her husband.

Needless to say, "The Father" is, at times, somewhat disorienting - but this is to the picture's credit, not its detriment, in its harrowing depiction of a dementia patient. Hopkins, whose storied career includes Hannibal Lecter and his stunning performance in "The Remains of the Day," gives a challenging, brutal and heartbreaking performance as Anthony. His character can be alternately charming, maddeningly frustrating and heartbreaking.

On a personal note, my grandmother had Alzheimer's during the final years of her life, and while there are obvious differences between that disease and dementia, there are some similarities - and the frightening level of disorientation portrayed in this film feels on the mark, even if it often makes "The Father" a difficult viewing experience. The expression "old age isn't for wimps" certainly applies here, and those who can stomach this often grueling film will be duly rewarded - at least, by the strong performances and bold stylistic choices, even if it leaves one wrung out afterwards.