Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

Ah! Thanks for the explanation.

The Father, The Mother, and The Son were conceived as a trilogy of plays, all dealing with similar ideas at different times in characters' lives. I haven't read/seen them all, but I understand that while they don't intersect plotwise, they are meant to compliment each other and use similar techniques.

So far, Zeller has written five novels and twelve plays, none of which form a trilogy although three of his plays, The Father, The Mother, and The Son might suggest a trilogy but they are not about members of the same family. André (Anthony in the film version of The Father) had two daughters, no sons.

The English translation of Zeller's play by Christopher Hampton retains the character's name as André - it's been Anglicized for the film version. Whether the name change or the casting of Hopkins came first, I don't know but it did strike me as a little odd. Why didn't they call him Andrew, which is the English version of André? Same with Rufus Sewell's character - he was called Pierre in the play, which made sense because he was supposed to be a Frenchman from Paris. If they wanted to Anglicize the name they could have called him Peter, which is the French version of Pierre, instead of Paul.

Oh, the things I think of in the middle of the night when I should be fast asleep!

A confident debut. I've come to understand this is one of a trilogy of books written by Florian Zeller and he intends on directing all three. That is something to anticipate. The way that Zeller conveys information to us and shifts in and out of Hopkins' point of view is excellent. It gives such a good glimpse into what it's like to live with dementia but also what it's like to live with someone who has dementia. It's a cinematic puzzle box, sometimes operating like a mystery, sometimes like a horror film, in the service of dramatizing the slide into senescence. The parting shot is especially depressing.

My only real problem with the film is that Anthony Hopkins' character never quite comes into focus entirely. We get glimpses of character traits he used to have but never the man. I know the point of the film is that he's losing all of those things before our eyes but at times it feels a bit hard to mourn a character (whose name IS Anthony) who feels a bit like "Anthony Hopkins Dementia Character." I wish we had been given that window into his life as a viewer but also as someone who has been watching Anthony Hopkins my entire life and can clearly see this is close to a last hurrah.

A strong, well-integrated story of a man with Alzheimer’s. Sad but a harsh and real depiction of the struggle with a mind’s decline. The script and direction are tight, and the acting is excellent. Anthony Hopkins as the father is the anchor of the film, with strong support from Olivia Coleman as his daughter. The movie has opened wide and will be available on cable on-demand on March 26.