The Father Movie Review & Comments

Awards chatter surrounding the film might fool you into thinking this is a film in which the performances are everything. And they are, to an extent. Not for nothing did Hopkins become the oldest person to win a Best Actor Academy Award. But Zeller’s film is so much more than a single heartrending performance. His understanding of the famous “5 Cs of cinematography”, of sets, of costumes, of every element of filmmaking is on display here. Here is a single devastating vision of tragedy rendered almost perfectly to film.

Spot on. This could easily have been a Oscar-bait sold exclusively on Hopkins' performance. But its the intricate production and the way it involves the audience that really impresses. The performance just makes it extra special.
 
Not exactly entertainment is it despite the great performances, my own father is going through this and its hard work.

Movies should be fun and entertaining not depressing considering the past year we have had.
 
Thank you for the review, Tom. I love Anthony Hopkiins, even though he completely sees performing as a job, and is disinterested in talking about the art.
But I just could not watch this right now.
 
Thanks Tom. Spoken a little about this already today after Lucas' review in the other thread. Really looking forward to it, but it's going to very much be a mood piece for me.

Not exactly entertainment is it despite the great performances, my own father is going through this and its hard work.

Movies should be fun and entertaining not depressing considering the past year we have had.

Sorry to hear about your dad, and likewise mine is too. However this was conceived before Covid was known about and I strongly disagree about films always having to be fun. There's a wealth of tremendous content out there that deals with serious subject matter, and film is a great way to highlight issues that can affect us all.

If it helps to educate in some cases too, even better.
 
I'd say people without personal experience of it, or those with enough distance from their own experiences will get the most out of it.
I've not had a family member afflicted with it since I was a teenager and even then I found it pretty brutal.

I can totally appreciate why this will be a hard pass for some.
 
Not exactly entertainment is it despite the great performances, my own father is going through this and its hard work.

Movies should be fun and entertaining not depressing considering the past year we have had.
I know how you feel, I lost my mum in Dec 20 to Dementia and it's really hard work. Watching this would bring back memories 😢, but hopefully more people will realise how cruel this illness can be to the person and family. A topic which should openly be talked about amongst other mental health issues.
 
Thanks Tom. Spoken a little about this already today after Lucas' review in the other thread. Really looking forward to it, but it's going to very much be a mood piece for me.



Sorry to hear about your dad, and likewise mine is too. However this was conceived before Covid was known about and I strongly disagree about films always having to be fun. There's a wealth of tremendous content out there that deals with serious subject matter, and film is a great way to highlight issues that can affect us all.

If it helps to educate in some cases too, even better.
I cannot speak for him of course, but I felt that gadget man was also saying that right now this is not a movie easy to watch.

I have not had a family member go through this, but the destruction of my entire business due to Covid means I have to be very careful what I watch.
In my area of work, I have many friends who are hanging on to hope by a thread. One, at least, decided to let go.
Tough times
 
My mum has been in a home with dementia for four years now having been only 62 when she entered. She hasn't recognised me for five, hasn't had the power of speech for two. I didn't get to see her at all last year due to the pandemic. It really is a cruel, cruel illness.

Its depiction in this movie is both mesmerising and haunting. Hopkins gives a career high in my opinion, many emotions and trates indistinguishable in parts to those I have witnessed. In as many ways that I found it a difficult watch I also found it somewhat comforting in the days and weeks after as I reflect on her better days and try my best to keep her comfortable in those she has ahead.

Certainly go with caution if this hits close to home. For everyone else I think this is a hugely important topic to be covered by film and is definitely worthy of a watch.
 
have to say that it is done very well from POV of person with dementia an as a movie as such. I like AH and OC and their performances were great.
But as a movie like something that should keep me interested or entertained, this did not deliver at all. Probably because it's done good, and since i do have IRL experience whit this, it feels mostly like painful mess. No matter what you do next, it fits, it's possible, nothing there to actually follow, just collection of bits and pieces. Not something you can rate, it's just bad from every angle.
So 9/10 seems fine but 1/10 can do to, it all depends how painful this is for for certain individual.
 
From interview, it's all the more telling in how modest Hopkins' personal observations of others led to the superlative performance given. As far as he sees it, he just picked up this and that from people in decline over the years and merely applied it to the role - along with his growing sense of occasional forgetfulness with age.
I recall him being asked about life; he said, "You wake up in the morning and it's the same old fundamental things". This film, though, acutely demonstrates how unsettling it all becomes when those things are denied.
 
Very good film , brilliantly portraying dementia, to the point I was doubting what I was watching..

Anthony Hopkins and Olvia Colman are both superb.
 
You write so beautifully and thoughtfully @Tom Davies.
 
I am of the same view as some of the others. I watched my grandmother go through this and I cannot handle the thought of watching something like this.
 
Was a hard watch in places, found myself skipping it on when he was taking a few slaps. Interesting though, with good performances.
 
Saw this today. Went alone, never been to the cinema by myself before but I thought why not. Anyway - both of my grandparents on my Dads side had dementia. I was young at the time but I do remember both the strain it had on my parents and the decline in each of my grandparents health.

This was a haunting film, I thought it was superb. Not an easy watch but superb all the same. I thought Anthony Hopkins was outstanding. I watched Kermodes review and he implied that the performance was too theatrical but I would disagree. I’d say it is up there as one of the best performances I’ve ever seen on film.
 
There are some days when Kermode loses the plot.

Some will say those days are more frequent than others will.
 
Some will say those days are more frequent than others will.
Some would say that The Stig would be a better Movie Reviewer than M. Comode. :)
 
But Kermode could be the Stig!! :eek:
network closing GIF
 
I watched this a few weeks ago and thought it was an excellent depiction of someone living with Dementia.. My mum had been suffering with Dementia for nearly 10 years and some of Anthony Hopkins traits in the movie are spot on.. Sadly my mum lost her battle against Dementia/Alzheimer's a few weeks back - Dementia is a terribly cruel disease and really does take away the dignity of the individual which the movie picked up very well..
 
I just watched this with my wife. I didn’t read the review in advance but having just read it I think you have written a brilliant piece that totally sums up the film. I didnt know it was based on a play but for me the whole thing was a masterful depiction from the point of view of someone gradually losing themselves to dementia. My mother in law has the condition and almost every nuance of the performance resonated.

The weird aspect for me was that the film made me think about how a drama like this usually shows how good people loose themselves as the ‘leaves“ fall away. In my case my mother in law has forgotten that she was a rude and difficult woman with unapologetic racism thrown in for good measure, Somehow it’s sad that the person who drove me crazy for 30 years Is slipping away. The experience of watching this like many of the films I love amplified many of my real life feelings to the point where I was more emotionally impacted than I am in real life by something similar happening to me now. I think that like a good book film can help us see our own experiences in a more intense way. It is a solid 9 for me. PS I also loved the plinking music.
 
Finally caught this on Prime (and yes of course it’s in UHD if you search for it).

Absolutely fantastic film, so well made, your review on the production is spot on. The confusion was so well done.

Hopkins, what can you say, best performance I’ve seen in a long time.

10/10
 

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