The Father

À la question « as-tu peur de la mort ? », quelqu'un m'a répondu une fois « non, j'ai peur de mourir, j'ai peur du processus de la mise à mort ». Ce film m'a rappelé cela. Une mosaïque brillamment écrite et magnifiquement interprétée par Hopkins qui met en scène la décomposition de la mémoire humaine, la perte de conscience de l'espace, du temps et de soi-même. Se déroulant dans quelques chambres avec quelques acteurs. Un film déprimant et triste, comme écrit par quelqu'un qui l'a vécu lui-même et qui en est revenu. Pourquoi regarder un tel film ? Pour nous rappeler comme nous devrions nous sentir bien. (12/03/2022)

The unbearable lightness of acting. I remember well Hopkins's exclusive interview with Reflex, where he said that "...acting is the easiest profession in the world...". So Sir Anthony cut yet another theatrical role, the likes of which he has portrayed hundreds of in his lifetime on stages, and he still won an Oscar for it, by the way. Yeah, acting is a beautiful profession, if you know how to do it. (07/05/2021)

In a word, suggestive. Suggestive in two ways, and it doesn't just get under the skin, but deep into each of your bones, and not just the big ones. For empathic reasons, a "must see" educational film, as the chances of this happening to you (either directly or within your family) are not small, but it’s also a great cinema experience. As much as it doesn't hide the intimate drama roots, the memento-like view of old age dementia "from the other side" is presented in a purely cinematic manner, with the editing in particular excelling in a way rarely seen. This is also true for all the cast, with Hopkins's performance of a lifetime leading the way. On paper, from an "intimate Oscar-winning film about a daughter's relationship with her demented father at the end of her life" one would expect a bittersweet sentimental film that plays on tear-jerking strings, not a frighteningly intense existential horror. (06/04/2022)

The exact opposite of what I expected from a screening of "an Oscar-winning film about a man with dementia". No obligatory ticking off of touching or disturbing points of the classic storyline, but rather an unpleasant, visually very modest, yet suffocatingly tight one-man show by Anthony Hopkins, without exaggeration the best performance of his career. The precisely cast supporting roles do not diminish his dominance; on the contrary, they help him shine even brighter. I can't give the highest rating purely for subjective reasons, because when I imagine that this awaits me with my own parent at some point, I have a little trouble even taking a breath. (12/04/2021)

A depressing look into almost all of our futures, this time without robots or an atomic holocaust. We don’t even get a chemical weapons attack or a pandemic, but I found this absolutely blood-chilling. Hopkins’ one-man-show about ageing sets off on an adventure journey that you really don’t want to go on. Full of surprises, confusion, a caustic feeling that everybody has turned against you and keep on hiding your wrist watch. Perfect dialogs, precise directing, beautifully sad music. (12/04/2021)

An incredibly fresh cinematic probe into the issue of old age and the slow decline of both the physical and primarily the psychological that is uniquely turned around and dissected in detail from the perspective of the patient, not the people around them, so we don’t get any corny tearful scenes or any other similar mining of emotions. Zeller goes about it in a sophisticated, at times almost detective-like manner, and the phenomenal performance of Anthony Hopkins doesn't give the viewer a chance to breathe. Within the genre, an unusual atypical film that is worth seeing, although it is not an easy watch. (25/04/2021)

Un petit film, mais un grand moment ! Dès les premières minutes, The Father m'a complètement emporté avec ses dialogues dynamiques, son tempo rapide et la puissance du jeu de ses acteurs. Et je dois dire qu’en fait, c’est une véritable montagne russe émotionnelle qui finit par vous donner la chair de poule ! La spirale narrative joue avec inventivité sur la perception du temps, de l'espace et des personnages secondaires, nous faisant ainsi partager avec le protagoniste sa confusion et sa frustration croissantes. Anthony Hopkins est ici au sommet de son art et on le suit aveuglément dans tout ce qu'il fait et ressent jusqu’à en oublier qu'on regarde un acteur. La puissance de ce film m’a ému comme ça ne m’était pas arrivé depuis longtemps ! (02/04/2021)

Anthony Hopkins is definitely not an old hand yet, as he convinced me with his breathtaking performance in The Father. The film manages to evoke the mental state of a man who is slowly but surely being consumed by a serious illness, robbing him of his memories and overall awareness of himself. At first I found myself actually similarly confused as Anthony, then I found myself sympathizing with both him and the people around him – especially his daughter Anne. It was incredibly sad to see what Alzheimer's disease, which befalls many of us when we live to such an old age, can do to a person. The Father is mainly an acting tour-de-force by Hopkins, but the supporting cast also gave supremely convincing performances, giving rise to an intimate but all the more powerful slice-of-life film. Old age can be peaceful, but it can also be cruel! (13/04/2021)

Translating Alzheimer's woes into cinematic language creates a postmodern horror film along the lines of Lynch or Wheatley. I even think it happened unintentionally, which is the scariest thing about it. We're going to hear a lot about acting performances with this film, and why not when Hopkins shoulders such an agonizing role at 83? Still, I'm most impressed by the truth presented about how old age simply can't have a happy ending. (04/04/2021)

Défi cinéma – les genres : adaptation d’une pièce de théâtre. La majestueuse prestation d’Anthony Hopkins qui, du haut de ses 83 ans, se lance dans une interprétation théâtrale pleine de dialogues et d'expressions faciales représentant et soulignant une confusion mentale absolue, mérite respect, admiration et appréciation. En outre, le film est tourné de façon à ce que le spectateur soit submergé par un chaos intérieur omniprésent qui transperce la peau et évoque des sentiments de paranoïa, de schizophrénie, de délires et d'hallucinations. Et à travers tout cela, chacun est amené à se poser des questions : qui est qui, où est la vérité, lequel de ces personnages est réellement vivant ou qui se trouve dans le giron d'Anthony, et qu'est-il arrivé à la deuxième fille. Il était impératif, par rapport à Anthony Hopkins, que le rôle de sa fille soit joué par une grande actrice et le choix d’Olivia Colman ne pouvait pas décevoir. Et voilà, j'ai enfin trouvé mon favori parmi les candidats aux Oscars et je n'hésite donc pas à lui mettre les cinq étoiles. Je vais d’ailleurs l’encourager de tout cœur dans quelques heures en lui souhaitant d’en recevoir le plus possible. Parce qu’Anthony, Olivia et toute l'équipe le méritent ! (25/04/2021)

A masterpiece performed by the brilliant Hopkins and Colman. Every shot, every dialogue made sense and felt quite personal. There is an art to getting the most out of such a serious subject, and here it just worked. (02/04/2021)

Memento of the twilight years. (01/05/2022)