The Father [Blu-ray]

Writer/director Florian Zeller brings his brilliantly written stage play, Le Père, to the screen as THE FATHER, directing a stunning cast that brings even more light to his deeply moving examination of aging and the effects on both the elderly and the family. The screenplay adaptation is by both Zeller and Christopher Hampton.‘Nothing is as it seems.’ Having just frightened away his recent caregiver, Anthony (Anthony Hopkins), an London octogenarian gradually succumbing to dementia, feels abandoned when his concerned daughter Anne (Olivia Colman) tells him she's moving to Paris. Confused and upset, against the backdrop of a warped perspective and his rapid, heart-rending mental decline, Anthony is struggling to differentiate between his perception of reality and that of his daughter and caregivers. Now, as faded memories and glimpses of lucidity trigger sudden mood swings, dear ones, Anthony's surroundings, and even time itself become distorted. Why has his younger daughter stopped visiting (she is deceased)? Who are the strangers that burst in on Anthony (a new caregiver Laura – Imogen Poots and a nurse Catherine – Olivia Williams and Anne’s husband Paul – Rufus Sewell and Paul – Mark Gatiss)?The way in which Zeller has written this story captures the elements of elderly dementia/Alzheimer’s victims’ perception of the world: scenes are often played both in the imaginary state Anthony perceives and in the reality form. The technique works brilliantly. Anthony Hopkins brings credibility to this role, as do Olivia Colman and Olivia Williams. The ensemble works intricately well as the story weaves in and out of Anthony’s two worlds. The mood of the piece is heightened by the use of excerpts from operas by Purcell, Bellini, and Bizet, and the music of Ludovico Einaudi. A completely satisfying and insightful film! Grady Harp, May 21

This is a heartbreaking film due in part to the accurate portrayal of dementia and also to Anthony Hopkins’ brilliance as an actor.

OK so yes 4 stars because the acting was really believable. It felt to long and unless your going through something similar. Its quite boring!

Others may like this. I found it slow and boring. There was nothing truly interesting...Only disjointed pieces and people put together like a jigsaw puzzle with no worthwhile picture after taking time to put it together. . The end was disappointing and unsatisfying. Just my take but You may love it.

Anthony Hopkins was the "surprise" winner of the best actor Oscar for this film. If you had not read anything about this film before seeing it, it might come off as a psychological horror film. Every scene in the film may be reality--or not. It takes a while to realize that there will be no easy answer to Hopkins' personal horror; he's not trapped in a mind game by someone looking to steal his money. The "reality" is that you can't trust a single scene in this movie of being anything but a fantasy of a man in the deepest pits of dementia. Only at the very end do we encounter what may be a "truthful" scene. What makes this different from Rain Man, in which Dustin Hoffman played a man with a similarly debilitating mental condition, this movie is seen almost entirely through the Hopkins character's eyes, and we have to trust the filmmakers that this is in fact "reality" as seen through the eyes of someone suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, and it certainly would be a "horror" to a caregiver observing this if they thought that this is what someone suffering from this condition actually "see." Frankly, I somewhat doubt it, because that would mean that every waking moment is a complete fantasy inside their own minds. While this is a fascinating film, I might have liked it better if it played as a straight horror movie, because its progression rambles on and on, loses any sense of direction and eventually becomes frustrating as you wait for the "point" of all this. That it is not supposed to make any sense may be the "point" of it, but then they could have just billed this as one of those old propaganda movies from the 30s and 40s, since it comes off like an advertisement for an old folk's home to lock people like this up. Of course, if you know beforehand what this film is about, you would know what to "expect" and be more forgiving. This film I might recommend as a "must see" once, but I doubt I'd want to watch if again.

When Anthony Hopkins was the 2021 surprise winner of the Oscar for Best Actor I knew this was a film that I had to watch. Hopkins and the entire cast are superb. Hopkins' performance is brilliant. The film screenplay and the direction are exceptional. The "But..." is because of two personal reactions. Because much of the film is revealed through the Alzheimer's view of the aging Hopkins, the viewer is never quite sure where the plot is going. This is not a criticism. It is brilliant writing and film making. But, most viewers will have to watch the film multiple times to figure out the "real" plot line. The second "But..." is that due to the nature of the story and the brilliant performance of Hopkins the movie can be a real downer. This is not a "feel good" film. Watch it often, but not when depressed. The Father is clearly one of the best films to come along in a very long time.

I love all of the actors in this movie. Anthony is one of my favorites. The movie was interesting, but not one I would watch over and over. It appears that they vision was from his part, because people and places chances all the time. The story is of a man who has dementia and how it effects his actions and that of the familycswift

The movie was good and lived up to the hype for it's genre. Anthony Hopkins as usual delivered a great performance, as did all the other cast members. The thing that bugged me is why are you putting ADs/Move trailers that are unskippable at the beginning of the movie? I'm paying extra money to be able to own the DVD and the way they thank the customer is by forcing cumbersome and unnecessary ads on them for their loyalty? Wth... Anyways. Overall good purchase, but the ads were annoying.

Didn't know when this film was released so saw it advertised on Amazon and bought it, I thought great just what I wanted until that was I tried to play it, realised it was not for this region and hadn't at that time realised that the film hadn't been shown, as far as I'm concerned it should not have been advertised for sale . Not at all happy about this but as I have friends out in the USA am keeping it for them.

Product unplayable. Returned.

Excellent

La película es buena pero lamentablemente la devolví ya que el blu-ray no contiene nada en español.

E’ per chi vive in America!!Impossibile vedere con il nostro lettore DVD!!!Non era segnalato nell’acquisto!!😢😢😢😩😩😩😤😤😤