THE FATHER Tells His Story on Bluray

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray from director Florian Zeller and Sony Picture Home Entertainment Classics with 6 Academy Award nominations comes a heart-breaking story of THE FATHER.

Anthony (Anthony Hopkins, winner of an Oscar for Best Actor) lives in London and enjoy music and his very beautiful apartment. Daughter Anne (Olivia Coleman) visits on the daily and is trying to find a care giver to help him. It is rather difficult as Anthony finds reasons to either not have a care giver or finding fault with them.

Taking him to a doctor’s appointment, the questions begin about his memory. He becomes agitated and even confronts Anne about the potential of her moving away. Trying to keep things easy for her dad, it does not help that Paul (Rufus Sewell) makes it clear he is not happy with Anthony living with them.

Anne is doing her best as Anthony continues to believe that changes are happening without his consent. The only things that are consistent in his life lately is music, Anne and the memory of a daughter he has lost.

Waking up one morning, Anthony begins to question everything to Catherine (Olivia Williams). When he puts the pieces together, he begins to fade to the point of no return. Sometimes reality is the cruelest memory of all.

Hopkins as Anthony is nothing short of completely brilliant in this role. Then again, from the moment we meet Anthony it is clear that we are on his journey – not ours. Each frame he is on screen breaks our heart a little more and a little more until it is almost unbearable. Hopkins may have aged as an actor, but it has not slowed him down from giving a performance that is not only memorable but will remain so. It is a look at the other side of a world that is terrifying to accept.

Coleman as Anne is a daughter that clearly wants to be there for her father. She is dutiful and even takes verbal stabs from her father on occasion. Reminding him about her life and where she is at present does not resonate with him. When the conversation comes up about love and Paris, it is immediately rejected by Anthony. Watching Coleman go through the stages of caring for her father and still caring for herself are moments of conflict that are believable to the core.

Sewell as Paul serves his purpose but his attitude regarding Anthony is cold, cruel and dangerous. There is a scene between he and Hopkins that had me practically gut punches with emotion. Trust me when I saw you will know it when it happens and will probably have the same visceral reaction. Sewell has had angry bad guys roles but I think this may be as close to home as I would ever want to see again.

Other cast include Mark Gatiss as The Man, Imogen Poots as Laura, Scott Mullins as Father, Roman Zeller as the boy and Ayesha Dharker as Dr. Sarai.

Sony Pictures encompasses motion picture production for television, digital content and theater releases. To see what is coming to theaters and to home entertainment please visit www.sonypictures.com.

Special Features include Deleted Scenes, Homecoming: Making THE FATHER, and Perception Check: Portrait of THE FATHER.

THE FATHER is a stunning masterpiece of storytelling and it is help up Olympus style by Hopkins and his heart crushing performance. He gets a hand up from Coleman as a daughter struggling to care for an ailing father and still have a life of her own. What makes this film is that every single moment is steeped in the reality of an aging parent with issues.

What makes this film even more amazing is the telling from Hopkins characters point of view. The constant questioning, the anxiety, fear, confusion and, with Hopkins, the charm of a man who does not realize the life he once knew is no longer right in front of him.

Of course, I am being a tad elusive to the depth of the story and that is intentional. I still to this day believe that there are films to be experienced, truly felt and THE FATHER is such a film. The believability the story and actors bring is steeped in a reality that many parents and adult children face every day. It is a situation that can tear both into shreds as one lets go and the other tries desperately to hold on.

In the end - this is a story of family memories and loss.

VICTORIA & ABDUL is Perfection

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres this Friday from director Stephen Frears and Focus Features is the story of an unlikely friendship between VICTORIA & ABDUL.

Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal) is a clerk in a prison in India and his life is about to change. Queen Victoria (Judi Dench) is to be given a tribute coin and Abdul is the tall man for the job. Along with a shorter Mohammed (Adeel Akhtar), they sale toward England and Abdul is very excited.

There is no time for looking around much as Abdul and Mohammed are given a crash course on how to present to the Queen. Sir Henry Ponsonby (Tim Pigott-Smith) lets the two men know that everything is to be precise and quickly.

During the dinner, Abdul and Mohammed make their way toward Queen Victoria and after a quick nap the presentation is made. Walking backwards, Abdul does the unthinkable and makes eye contact and gives a smile to the Queen and what turns into one moment becomes an unlikely friendship.

Much to the horror of Sir Ponsonby and Lord Salisbury (Michael Gambon) as well as her ladies Lady Churchill (Olivia Williams) and Miss Phipps (Fenella Woolgar), the Queen begins to prefer the company of Abdul. They inform the Queen’s son Bertie (Eddie Izzard) and a plan is formed.

Queen Victoria asks Abdul about his land, language and his story as they share walks and private times. It is clear that Abdul cares very much for the Queen and she for him, especially discovering he is married and demanding he get his family and return. That doesn’t stop the Queen’s staff, along with Dr. Reid (Paul Higgins), from looking into Abdul’s past. Believing they can stop him with what they know, it only manages to infuriate the Queen in Abdul’s favor.

Including a knighthood which sends the entire palace into a tizzy and a decision that will not only put their loyalty in question but show how Queen Victoria wasn’t napping any longer.

This is a friendship that is filled with understanding, forgiveness and even unspoken love.

Dench once again proves why she is a queen in her own right. She is smart, strong, delicate, wistful and a woman who sees so little to move forward for. Once the Queen’s inner light is ignited, Dench shines every moment of the film. I quite honestly could not take my eyes off her performance and the ending brought me to tears.

Karim as Fazal is a man who doesn’t see the world in such an aggressive way as those around him. A simple jail clerk who happens to know how to write is sent across the world to do one simple thing and it turns into a friendship. Fazal delivers his lines with the innocence I see in Abdul in that how one sees the world is clearly different than the Queen. There are moments where he is clearly confused, moments of profound joy and deep sadness and Fazal gets every drop of emotion out of the audience who is just as enraptured as the Queen.

Izzard as Bertie is just the worst that a son could possible be. Instead of being happy for the emotional reviving of his mother, he sees Abdul as an interloper and acts like a spoiled child instead of a future ruler. Izzard just pours it on and gets the reaction he wants!

Akhtar as Mohammed just wants to go home, and when he sees that the Prince and others want to use that against his friend Abdul – his response is epic! Pigott-Smith as Ponsonby is confused by the relationship between the Queen and Abdul but at the same time has a faithfulness to the way things ought to be done. Higgins as Dr. Reid is just another lackey who isn’t happy about Abdul’s presence and finds himself faced with the wrath of the Queen. Gambon as Salisbury wants one thing only – for Abdul to be gone and the crown to go back to normal.

Williams as Lady Churchill isn’t happy to have the Queen’s ear and convinces Miss Phipps to do the extortion deed. Woolgar as Phipps has a moment in front of the Queen that is nerve wracking to watch but awesome to experience.

Other cast include Julian Wadham as Alick Yorke, Robin Soans as Arthur Bigge, Ruth McCabe as Mrs. Tuck, Sukh Ojla as Mrs. Karim, Kemaal Deen-Ellis as Ahmed and Simon Callow as Puccini.

TUBS OF POPCORN: I give VICTORIA & ABDUL five tubs of popcorn out of five. There is nothing about this film that goes wrong with me. The story between Queen Victoria and Abdul is delightful, funny, testing, sad, misunderstood and heartbreaking.

Mixed in with that is the ugliness of those around the Queen with their jabbing, back biting, underhanded, and horrible treatment of Abdul and Mohammed. Instead of embracing the cultural differences of these two men, they found ways to cut them to the quick – and right to their face in some cases.

The cinematography is amazing and it is a period piece which is going to grab me from the word go. I absolutely adore the costuming which is always an important part of a period piece because it adds such a richness to the storytelling.

I’m warning anyone who sees the film to keep a Kleenex handy because for the ending you are going to need it. The chemistry between Dench and Fazal is everything I wanted for this story to be told – thank you both for making me laugh, smile and shed a tear.

In the end – this is a friendship based on a true story…well, mostly.