Alzheimer’s and other such dementias are an all-too-common feature when it comes to statistics on human mortality. A dementia diagnosis is inevitably fatal, one way or another, and this devastating disease continues to ravage millions of lives every year. This illness is an enigma in itself, with a cure proving to be ever-elusive and scientific comprehension still very much in its infancy as far as prevention and treatment are cocnerned. As such, this condition has become increasingly prevalent, yet, as with any mental illness, a stigma has become attached to it, with those affected by it frequently treated in a demeaning, condescending, and humiliating manner.
The Father
A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality. Starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Coleman.
Film has frequently fallen foul ofexploring tales of mental health issueswith much in the way of authority, conviction, or real justice. In turn, we are regularly exposed to these lock-up-and-throw-away-the-key type dramas, with Dickensian institutions housing hundreds of seriously ill residents. FromShutter IslandandSplit to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, there is often an air of sensationalism to these pictures, but not in Florian Zeller’s 2021 psychodrama,The Father. This incredibly moving film serves as a lesson in the complexities of dementia, offering a vivid portrayal of how it affects the human brain.
Rent on Apple TV
How The Father Presents a Brutally Realistic Example of How Dementia Devastatingly Impacts Lives
Starring the Academy Award-winning silver screen icons, Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman in two oftheir best performances, in the titular roles as father and daughter, Anthony and Anne,The Fatherconcerns the senile decay of Anthony and his heartbreaking battle with dementia. With the caring Anne permanently on-hand to care for her rapidly deteriorating father, more and more is expected of her as she must excruciatingly, and helplessly, watch her father succumb to this incurable illness as he begins to forget who she is, and, more pertinently, who he is. Despite being a doting daughter, governed by this innate duty she feels she owes to her father, her imminent move to Paris means Anthony will be left in the hands of caregivers.
Throughout this devastating tearjerker, Zeller does an astounding job of bringing this father and daughter’s immense hardship to the very fore in a breathtakingly understated manner. The French auteur relies on sleight of hand tricks to create this disorienting effect that mirrors the perspective of the protagonist, Anthony. This deeply affecting technique exposed the true nature of the disease from the sufferer’s perspective. These frightening delusions, that are more reminiscent of an acid trip, often sees Anthony having visions and communicating with people who aren’t there. AsThe Fatherprogresses, so too does Anthony’s dementia, becoming increasingly confused, delirious, and petrified in the process.
What the film captures so eloquently is this perpetual, continuous bewilderment of Anthony, and like our principal character, we, the audience, are also challenged to differentiate between the psychological distortion of dementia and reality. A stark lack of control quickly becomes apparent, not just in Anthony’s life, but his once trusty steed; his brain.
Related:10 Movies that Perfectly Capture What it’s Like to Have Depression
Florian Zeller Does an Exceptional Job of Highlighting the Difficulties Experienced by the Family Members
Zeller’s detailed illustration of life with dementia not only explores the difficulties experienced by those with the disease, but by their family members, friends, and caregivers. In this particular instance, Anthony’s daughter is forced to bear the cross of her father’s condition after his carer quits following one of his mood swings and subsequent ill-tempered outburst. This double-edged sword depicts in graphic, no-holds-barred detail the impact that such a condition has on those having to deal with it externally.
Not only does Anne have to bear first-hand witness to this incremental downward spiral, but she has to watch someone she loves endure this agonizing, inescapable hell, all while simultaneously keeping her own feelings in-check in the name of strength and for the sake of her father. Zeller provides a snippet of life as a husband, wife, son, daughter, brother, sister, relative, or friend who has mental resilience and undying love for someone who is not only an unrecognizable shell of their former selves, but so tragically vulnerable and completely beholden to the kindness and help of others.
Related:Olivia Colman’s Hilarious Comedy Career Before the Academy Awards
Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman Combine Beautifully to Portray a Father and Daughter in Crisis
Anthony Hopkins smashed theAcademy Award recordfor the oldest actor to ever win one of the prestigious statuettes, aged 82, scooping the golden gong for Best Actor. An award that was so very deserved, producing a performance that must have required both supreme faculty and extraordinary dedication. The veteran British actor is remarkable as chief character, Anthony, and his unwavering commitment to highlighting the true nature of the disease pays dividends inanother career-defining role. There is a real relatability to his rendition of this elderly man with dementia, whether it be a family member of a friend, most of us will have seen these expressions, mannerisms, and tiny details in a person with Alzheimer’s before.
The authenticity of Hopkins’ performance derives from his ability to seamlessly flit between being a moody, short-tempered old man, perpetually confused by his environment and those around him, to every so often, allowing flashes of his former self to break through this extensive mirage of confusion, allowing for a warming, albeit short lived respite.
Just a year after handing in a career-defining, Academy Award-winning display in Yorgos Laminthos’The Favorite, Olivia Colman delivered another sensational performance as another Anne, but this time not of the royal kind. While this symbolized quite the departure from her theatrical, all-absorbing portrayal of Queen Anne in Laminthos’ eccentric period piece, Colman once again demonstrated what a deft touch she possesses when it comes to the art of fully immersing herself in the thoughts, feelings, emotions, and way of life of the character requested of her.
For many, the grieving process begins at the point of diagnosis, and while Anthony may still be there in physical, visceral form, for Anne, her feeling of helplessness is palpable, and throughout the film, she begins to make peace with the fact her father is no longer the man she once knew and loved.
