When people enter old age, they think more about a short-term retirement and enjoying family and friends and less about pursuing new horizons in their work. In the world of cinema, we can count on our fingers those actors who remain at the top of Hollywood past the age of eighty, such as Robert de Niro, Clint Eastwood and Anthony Hopkins, among others. The latter has the distinction of being the oldest winner of the Oscar for Best Actor, the most recognized award in cinema.
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic was the main protagonist of the year, causing, among other things, that movies had to be released onstreaming platforms in order not to delay the project. In that context, Netflix released "The Father", a French-British drama film directed by Florian Zeller and starring Anthony Hopkins who plays Anhtony and Olivia Colman who plays his daughter.
The only truth is reality
Anthony is an elderly man suffering from dementia and his strong character prevents him from dealing well with caregivers as he feels he does not need them. His daughter observes that the disease is progressing and makes the decision for him to move in with her with the collaboration of a nurse who will be there while she works.
Dementia leads him to confuse the people around him and to face the loss of control over his life. The film explores how the disease affects both the patient and his loved ones, particularly his daughter. The confusion is not only to the protagonist, but also to the viewer about what is real, what is fiction, what is a fact of the past and what is the present.
The way the protagonist's confusion is presented and the manipulation of time and space in the narrative makes the viewer also experience the confusion felt by the character. The film, being told from a senile mind, constantly breaks with the conventions of time and space, resulting in a fragmented experience for the viewer. This technique is essential to construct the mental chaos of the protagonist Is his daughter married or divorced? If she is separated, who is the man she talks to while she is not married? And if she is married, why did she tell him that she is moving to Paris because she met a man?
It is important to highlight the work of the director, who made a great adaptation of his own work Le Père (TheFather translated into Spanish) playing with the new physical spaces that cinema allows him. The viewer never feels completely sure where the character really is. At the beginning of the story, there is a picture painted by his youngest daughter (whose whereabouts we don't know until the end), but the next day she is no more (or perhaps never was). The collapse of Anthony's memory also creates a similar experience for the viewer, who no longer knows if they are seeing a different version of the same place or if the film is playing with the perception of what is being shown.
The use of contradictory dates also contributes to the manipulation of time. Anthony is confronted with situations where dates and events do not line up, which reinforces the sense that time has become fluid and uncertain. How old is Anthony? How long has it been since he has seen his daughter? The same event may present itself in slightly different ways at different points in thefilm-who cooked for him? Who made his tea in the morning? The interactions with her daughter and her caregiver are repeated and mixed, but with slight variations generating several Déjà vu. During the course of the story, the film leaves several doubts, but with the certainty that one is with a periodfilm.
Age is just a number
At 83, Anthony Hopkins shows himself to be two sides of the same coin. The Anthony of fiction, a grumpy old man who refuses to have permanent medical care at home and much less, to be in a nursing home with people his age. His personality forces him to only want to be in his apartment or in his daughter's apartment (which was bought by him several years ago) and rest his last years of life. On the other hand, the Anthony of reality is a mature actor whose performance was recognized with a BAFTA and an Oscar, both for best actor. Although he had already won both awards in 1992 for his iconic Dr. Hannibal Lecter, his performance as Anthony may be as recognized as the one in "The Silence of the Lambs".
In "The Father," there are very few scenes in which Hopkins is not present, which shows that being the main protagonist required considerable physical and emotional effort. He even performs a few dance steps, a detail that, although it seems simple, shows the wear and tear and energy that the actor pours into his character. This kind of work, both physical and mental, is unthinkable for a man of his age.
Playing Anthony was not only a test of his acting ability, but also a reflection of his own life and his relationship with aging. Over the years, Hopkins became one of the great performers of his generation. In "The Father," he feels as if he is experiencing the same losses as his character, which lends such an authentic emotional dimension that it is impossible not to draw the parallel to his own life. His character and his role were a profound look at the most universal human emotions: the fear of oblivion, the rejection of dependency, the struggle to maintain dignity. Hopkins' ability to communicate these emotions, without falling into exaggeration, is a testament not only to his talent, but to the wisdom acquired over the years.
Age was a hallmark of his mastery. At eighty-three, he becomes the oldest actor to win an Oscar, a historic fact that highlights not only his longevity as an artist, but also the recognition of his continued effort. While other younger actors dominate the screen, Hopkins proves that accumulated experience, maturity and talent honed over time can remain an invaluable source of innovation and depth in acting.
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