Excitement is mounting about the release of director and award-winning French playwright, Florian Zeller’s debut film – THE FATHER – in local cinemas next week Friday.
This highly anticipated motion picture just received an enthusiastic thumbs up from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by being nominated for six Oscar Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Olivia Colman), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Anthony Hopkins), Best Film Editing and Best Production Design. The winners of the 93rd annual Academy Awards will be announced on 25 April and is set to be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.
According to the online platform, Deadline, Zeller is especially pleased that there were multiple nominations among the team. “This is something we can all share among the team,” he said. “To make a film is so much work and so many dreams, it’s a collective work and it’s common dreams and these are dreams that we are making together.”
The film, described by Rolling Stone as “a memorable movie about ageing”, also bagged six BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) nominations for Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Leading Actor, Production Design, Adapted Screenplay and Editing, as well as two Screen Actors Guild (SAG) nominations. Winners will be announced on 11 April and 4 April, respectively.
THE FATHER is based on a stage play of the same name, which was written by Florian Zeller and launched in Paris in 2012, winning a Moliere Award for Best Play, before hitting Broadway and London’s West End where it was equally well received.
The adapted screenplay, which Zeller co-wrote with his long-time collaborator – Christopher Hampton – offers an accurate and somewhat unsettling account of both what it is like to love someone with dementia, and what it is like to live as someone with dementia.
It tells the story of a middle-aged daughter (Olivia Colman) who is losing patience with her elderly father, masterfully portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, who refuses to allow a carer to look after him as his grip on reality is fading.
This simple drama is deliberately told through the eyes of the elderly father, whose life has become a source of ever-disorienting confusion. It is disorienting and surreal, but it speaks volumes to living with dementia.
Hopkins and Colman have both received various nominations for their brilliant performances in the film and are supported by an excellent cast, including Mark Gatiss, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell and Olivia Williams.
THE FATHER is a heart-rending account of what happens when a relationship, which has functioned in a certain way for decades, suddenly changes, but also celebrates the unbreakable bond between parent and child.
The film, locally distributed by Filmfinity Pty (Ltd.), has already won the coveted Audience Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival in 2020 and will be released in South African cinemas on 26 March 2021.
Watch the trailer here:
SOCIAL MEDIA LINK
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