As we age, our own body and mind will let us down. We can try to fight it, but victory is nearly impossible. “The Father” is a poignant drama about pain and helplessness in the face of old age that will leave no one indifferent.

A Father Named Anthony

At first glance, Anthony is slowly but quite respectably living out his old age in his own apartment, opposed to any caregivers and absolutely confident in the sharpness of his mind. He loves organization and order, so he is very attached to his wristwatch and gets upset when he cannot find it.

The truth, however, is that Anthony suffers from senile dementia and often does not understand what is happening around him. He does not fully realize that something is wrong with him, so sometimes he simply allows himself to exist in the circumstances presented (as he perceives them).

Sir Anthony Hopkins is a genius. Period. What he shows in front of the camera cannot be explained by good direction or skilled camera work alone. His character is a piece of work, but it is impossible not to sympathize with him, not to feel his confusion and pain.

A Daughter Named Anne

Although the narrative of “The Father” unfolds from Anthony’s perspective, his daughter Anne, played by the amazing Olivia Colman, plays an equally important role. The father clearly sees and notices what is happening to his daughter, but cannot fully comprehend it. And she feels the same pain and helplessness as he does.

I don’t know if it’s worth mentioning Olivia’s incredible talent for the hundredth time. This performance of hers can be considered slightly more subtle, with a greater emphasis on inner turmoil. However, I must highlight Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton for their excellent screenwriting; the character of Anne remains believable in every situation.

How “The Father” Resembles “Memento”

In addition to working on the script, Florian Zeller also directed. And it is a stunning piece of work, somewhat reminiscent of the recent “” – sometimes something changes on screen, and the viewer’s brain does not immediately grasp what exactly changed, but a subconscious feeling of wrongness and unnaturalness of what is happening appears. However, unlike Kaufman’s work , in “The Father” there is almost no understatement, though nothing will be spelled out for you.

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Since we are talking about films that are close in spirit to this one, I cannot help but recall one of the brightest and most interesting works of Christopher Nolan, “”. Both films use unconventional cinematic techniques to immerse the viewer in the psyche of a sick person, to illustrate what is happening in their head and how it looks from the outside.

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Only the goals of these films are different. While “Memento” is still more of a detective story, “The Father” is a personal tragedy of a small family, which almost anyone with similar family circumstances can empathize with.

Emotional Intensity or a Bit About Personal Perception

Nowadays, an English phrase, “trigger warning,” is gradually coming into fashion, meaning a warning that topics will be discussed that some people may react painfully to due to unpleasant associations and parallels with personal experience. So, I want to slap a huge “trigger warning” on this film, because people who have in one way or another gone through similar experiences with their loved ones will find it truly difficult to watch “The Father.”

Let me give an example. I, your humble servant, watched the film not alone. By the start of the credits, my companion, although he appreciated the film, could not say that he perceived it in any special way. Meanwhile, I was an emotional wreck and spent another half hour trying to pull myself together.

This film evokes pain. Or rather, it reminds you of the pain you had almost forgotten or tried to forget, the pain and helplessness, the desire and inability to help.

On the other hand, sometimes such a small catharsis is exactly what a person needs to fully understand the context of the circumstances surrounding them in life. If a work of art has managed to evoke a serious catharsis, it means the work is definitely head and shoulders above most others.

But now I definitely know at least one film that will be in my top films of 2021.