SHIFTING REALITY (THE FATHER)

Anyone who has ever had a loved one with dementia will be mesmerised by Anthony Hopkins' performance in 'The Father'.

The 83 year old pulled off a stunning victory earlier this year in the race for the Best Actor Oscar which everyone assumed would go posthumously to Chadwick Boseman for his superb performance in 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'.

But watching Hopkins, it is hard to argue with the decision to honour a technically superb, emotionally engaging, astute performance.

Although if anything, the strength of his, Boseman and Riz Ahmed's excellent performance in 'Sound of Metal' only demonstrates just how ridiculous awards season is.

In an adaptation of his own play 'Le Pere,' the French novelist and playwright Florian Zeller assembles one hell of a cast for 'The Father'.

Already adapted for the big screen as 'Floride' in 2015 by director Philippe Le Guay and Jerome Tonnerre, that film boasted a terrific lead performance by Jean Rochefort alongside Sandrine Kiberlain.

Zeller, who adapts his play alongside veteran screenwriter Christopher Hampton, relocates the action to London with Olivia Colman, Rufus Sewell, Olivia Williams, Mark Gatiss and Imogen Poots joining Hopkins.

Colman, who was also Oscar nominated for her performance, plays Anne - a dutiful daughter to Hopkins' Anthony who regularly visits her elderly father in his flat.

At the start of the movie, he is engrossed in listening to classical music on his headphones but we learn Anthony has also driven away his latest home help, accusing her of stealing from him.

The missing watch is located in one of his favourite hiding spots in the bathroom but Anthony refuses to budge on his claim that his care giver was stealing.

Anthony is rattled when Anne appears to announce she is going to be leaving London to go to Paris - having found a new man.

But such is the shifting perception of reality in the film and inside Anthony's head, we don't know if Anne has actually said this when she later denies any such plan.

Later Anthony discusses her announcement with Mark Gatiss' stranger in his flat, admitting he is surprised by her announcement as he doesn't recall Anne having a relationship with any man since the collapse of her marriage to James.

Anthony also chats to Rufus Sewell's Paul in his flat who might be Anne's husband and tells her father he is actually living in their apartment.

Paul seems resentful of his presence and eager for Anne to arrange for him to go into a residential home.

Anne arranges for Imogen Poots' care giver Laura to meet with Anthony who immediately turns on the charm, insisting she has a small glass of whiskey.

He claims he used to be a professional dancer - in reality he was a civil engineer by profession.

But even during this encounter, Anthony shows the flash of temper which Anne has warned Laura about.

He repeatedly observes that Laura reminds him of his daughter Lucy and is further confused when Olivia Williams' woman turns up in the apartment.

Aa Paul and Anne appear to bicker about his continued presence in a flat he believes is his, Anthony becomes more fearful.

Zeller's innovation in 'The Father' is to tell Anthony's story from the perspective of a dementia patient.

As a result, the narrative in 'The Father' constantly shifts - so we are not sure who people are, what has been said and what exactly is happening.

It's a quite brilliant attempt to recreate what life must be like for dementia sufferers and it draws terrific performances from Hopkins and the rest of the cast.

But if there is a quibble, it is that 'The Father' feels like a filmed play.

It's a good play, no doubt but the direction is so conservative, it could easily be a National Theatre Live production or be made for BBC4.

It should be more cinematic.

However, despite this quibble most audiences will be engrossed in the story on the back of its performances - in particular Hopkins'.

Anyone who has had a loved one suffer from dementia like Anthony will recognise the traits- the forgetfulness, the moments of charm, the flashes of temper, the flights of fancy, the embarrassment, the fear.

It is so accurate, it's hard to watch.

However they will also recognise themselves in what Colman's Anne says and does - the desperation to placate, the guilt, the frustration, the concern, the pity, the feeling at times of being overwhelmed by the deterioration in their loved one's mental health.

An actor as brilliant as Hopkins has no difficulty charting Anthony's decline but it's the little things that ultimately hit home - the way he dresses and eventually needs dressed, the wandering about in pajamas.

But if Hopkins and Colman deliver superb performances. they are complimented by Williams, Gatiss, Sewell and Poots who have us questioning the narrative.

Each performance is a powerful cog in a dazzling narrative machine.

Undoubtedly heartbreaking 'The Father' is a tough watch - especially for those who have experienced a loved one succumb to this cruel condition.

But as good as it is, it will also leave some people with an even deeper appreciation of Michael Haneke's 2012 Palme d'Or winner 'Amour' and how it dealt with ageing and frailty.

With the help of his Director of Cinematography Darius Khondji, Haneke avoided his film becoming too theatrical and managed to turn the confines of a Parisian apartment into a venue that was profoundly cinematic.

Zeller doesn't quite manage that feat.

Nor does he seem all that bothered and that's okay.

Ultimately the power of his narrative and the performances he elicits from his cast shine so bright, it obscures his conservatism as a director.

It will be Hopkins' Oscar winning turn that audiences will remember and the fact that it merited awards.

('The Father' was released in UK and Irish cinemas on June 11, 2021)