The sensitive portrait of an old man: Anthony Hopkins convinces in "The Father".
Berlin – Anthony Hopkins received his first Oscar in 1992 for the role of serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the thriller "The Silence of the Lambs". He got his second in April, at the age of 83, for the portrayal of a man suffering from dementia in the drama "The Father". As different as the genres are, Hopkins' game is brilliant and haunting. In the quiet dementia drama “The Father” he now alternates between an imperious patriarch, a cheerful charmer and a helpless old man.
At his side in this chamber play-like film, Olivia Colman (“The Favorite”) convinces as a self-sacrificing daughter between despair and hope. In the film version of his theatrical material, the French director Florian Zeller draws the sensitive portrait of an old man who is slowly losing himself and the world around him, presented with some interesting narrative tricks.
The Father, Great Britain / France 2020, 97 min., FSK from 6, by Florian Zeller, with Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, https://tobis.de/film/the-father dpa
