Le père

This is one of the hardest movie reviews I've ever had to write in my life.

Mainly because of the films subject matter, Dementia.

I've seen my own father succumb to this dreaded disease and it scares the hell out of my, worse than any horror movie I've watched.

I sadly remember some of the last words my own father spoke to me were, "Be a good boy at School today." I was 46 at the time.

The beauty of "The Father" is how Director, Florian Zeller, takes you into this descent of losing your grip on reality through the eyes of the marvellous veteran and Academy Award wining actor, Sir Anthony Hopkins.

At times his character Anthony is part Hannibal Lecter and at others a peaceful, but confused ageing Father to Olivia Colmans, Anne.

Another Academy Award winner who puts in a highly believable performance as his daughter who's trying to deal with helping a man who refuses to accept assistance from her or carers.

Fun Fact: Colman was named Anne is both roles she's been Oscar nominated for.

Also great supporting roles form Mark Gatiss, Olivia Williams, Imogen Poots and Rufus Sewell.

Overall "The Father" has been nominated for 6 Oscars, after already having over 20 wins in other awards and once you've seen this film you'll know why it deserves to win in Hollywood.

At 83, Hopkins, is the oldest winner of a Best Male Actor BAFTA and a dark horse to scoop up the big one.

This film feels like everything he has learnt in his craft is on display effortlessly for 97 minutes.

It's hard to believe this is Zellers' feature film directorial debut, because it's a masterclass in cinema adapted from his own acclaimed play "Le Pere" from 2012.

The role of Anthony was specifically written for Hopkins.

One of the things that got the living legend to agree to this film apart from the top shelf script (adapted by Christopher Hampton) was the inclusion of one of Hopkins favourite pieces of music from Georges Bizet Opera "The Pearl Fishers".

He's always dreamt of making a movie with this music in it.

With lines from Anthony like: "I feel as if I'm losing all my leaves" "The Father" is so close to perfect I'm giving it 10 stars.

This movie was shot in May 2019 just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic was recognized. The writer-director says he wrote this with Anthony Hopkins, who was 81, in mind. The movie has a number of well established actors but the story's impact depends on Hopkins and he achieves this as very few might be able to do.

Usually movies dealing with aging and dementia depict it from the points of view of all the others around, friends, family members, medical personnel. This does the opposite, it depicts it from the point of view of the afflicted person. As such I found myself totally confused after about 20 minutes but eventually understood why it had to be this way. We are seeing what Anthony (character's name) sees and experiences, the confusion as to where he is and his failure to recognize people he knows.

In many ways this is a hard movie to watch because we know people who have gone through dementia and its inevitable end, or know people who are in the early stages of it. For that reason my wife chose not to watch this movie.

For the subject matter it is a very good movie.

Wow. This story is expertly crafted that I just don't know what is real and what isn't. Amazing acting too.

It's just so sad and also a bit terrifying. My wife works as a nurse in an alzheimer's ward, and she said this is the most realistic depiction of the disease she has ever seen. She also said in her opinion it should be required viewing for anyone that works with alzheimer's or dementia patients. What a movie!

And then you get Anthony Hopkins in THE FATHER. This is a devastatingly, heartbreakingly-brilliant performance and a great film. Hopkins' range is incredible. He goes from charming and funny to menacing to wholly lost in seconds. From man to child on a dime. It's a powerful rumination on a terrifying disease, bolstered by Sir Tony at his finest, a strong supporting turn from Olivia Colman, and an excellent script by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller (based on Zeller's play). It's a daring move to tell the story from the perspective of Hopkins' character as his mind increasingly deteriorates. A savvy one too, as the audience is forced to engage to truly understand what is real, who is who, and where precisely we are in our protagonist's gut-wrenching journey. This may be Hopkins best work, a late-career revelation that once again reminds us why he's one of our finest cinematic performers. Be warned. If you've ever been touched by the tragedy of dementia, this film could wreck you.