Few things in life are as certain as birth, death, and change. Once we become part of this world, our time begins its tick, gradually but certainly guiding us to our inevitable demise. Old age is certain as any of these; with it come treasures of glamour and a set of difficulties in tow. In this case study, we shall direct our focus on the character of Anthony, portrayed by Academy Award Winner Anthony Hopkins in the movie The Father (2020). He is an octogenarian, lives in London with his daughter and son-in-law, and suffers from dementia. This study will hence look at the impact of Anthony’s mental condition (dementia) on his life and those who live with him.
Mr. Anthony, in his own alternative understanding, is portrayed as a man who lives alone, and defiantly so, rejects all assistance his daughter, Anne (portrayed by Academy Winner Olivia Colman) metes out diligently. Anne cannot keep up with the daily visits anymore hence the need for her to hire caretakers for her ailing father. The Father takes us through an hour-long experience of real-life dementia, warmly embracing its effects on different persons other than the patient. While Anthony appears charming, gentle, mischievous even, his inability to grasp the very fabric of reality makes his daily life rather difficult. Such reality includes his denial to have a caretaker while at the same feeling abandoned despite his daughter’s continuous provision of aid. It is conditions such as these that we intend to look into, their causes, and impacts.
Dementia is a group of symptoms that affect one’s memory thinking and thus interfere with one’s daily life. The character, Anthony, suffers from this, and it has significant challenges in his life and those around him. In Anthony’s view, director Florian Zeller shows that Anthony believes that he lives independently in his flat and that Anne (her daughter) just visits often. The reality, however, is that he has been living with Anne and his fiancé the entire time.
Anthony’s inability to remember important life events, such as the death of her daughter Lucy or where he put his watch, puts a strain on his relationship with the caregivers. He absurdly insists that his recent caretaker stole his watch despite it being in the very place he left it. Anne hints at her plans to leave London for France with her new boyfriend, and this confuses Anthony because he knows she’s married to James. This is odd because Anne and James have been divorced for five years. One can see the pain in Anne’s eyes as she tries to explain that to her dad. She eventually opts to leave.
In a different instance, Anne and Paul (her current fiancé) have an argument over a canceled vacation to Italy. The cancellation came in so that the two could address Anthony’s poor behavior towards a former caretaker. Paul feels that Anne sacrifices too much for her father, to the point that other persons in her life become moot. He, Paul, inquires of Anthony about how long he plans on staying with them and continues to annoy everyone. Out of frustration, Paul goes as far as slapping Anthony to the point of crying. The strain in this family setting becomes even more cumbersome when Anthony refuses to be in the care of a social worker, alluding to his past experience as a professional dancer to be of great significance in his quest for independence.
The film isn’t so generous with Anthony’s past life or the experiences therein. We can, however, include the death of her daughter Lucy as a significant point of her life. When Anne schedules an interview with a new caretaker, Laura, Anthony defies her. She is later hired, and Anthony tells her, Laura, that she reminds her of her daughter Lucy. Laura says she is so sorry about Lucy’s accident, to which Anthony says he has no idea what she means. See, in his view, her daughter Lucy is alive, she is a painter, and he doesn’t understand why she hasn’t visited in months. He mentions that he is proud of her and misses her. There is a behavioral distinction that is observed between him and Laura.
His relationship with her isn’t as flawed as it was with the other caretakers. This is because Anthony sees the likeness of her daughter in the caretaker. So much so that he thinks Lucy and Laura are not different people. In a scene that upscales Anthony’s morbid fear of abandonment, Laura intends to get his medicine from the next room. Anthony holds onto her hands and asks that she do not leave him on his own. His rather scant grasp of reality is so bad that he cannot understand exactly which flat he is in; is it his own or that of his daughter? This creates a significant problem for Anthony in that he isn’t sure that if someone leaves, they’ll come back. It is for this sole purpose that he doesn’t want Anne to depart for Paris because to him, it is sheer abandonment.
The film is so poignant and devastating in motion that one cannot help to empathize with the character. The director creates it so awfully heartbreaking and at the same time confusing, fusing an aura of emotions that one is almost relieved when it ends. It is a film that isn’t focused on the story per se but more on the experience it intends to create. The experience revolves around Anthony, therefore, making him the ultimate narrator. He is however quite unreliable in his role as a narrator.
In the film’s final scene, we are treated to a bit of context before the characters are unveiled to us. It is a brief moment of exposition that allows us to see Anthony’s setting before we see him and his final interaction with another caretaker/nurse, Catherine. Anthony is in a hospital and in the care of Catherine. Anne has since been to Paris for some months now too. The film reaches its crescendo in Anthony’s four-minute dialogue in which he asks, with profound sadness, “who am I?” He breaks down emotionally and takes the comfort of Catherine, who promises to take him out for a walk because it is a beautiful day.
Perhaps to conclude, what Anthony as a character in the film enables us to experience is the impossibility of a fractured mind, the intensity it comes with, and how difficult it is to live with dementia. As the movie ends, we are shown Catherine, his nurse who is by far the most understanding of all caretakers. Anthony isn’t rude to her; she doesn’t show the least bit of frustration in working with him either. With the two alone together, we embrace the comforting idea that beneath the devastating illness, there is indeed an adorable person who above all, needs every ounce of our understanding.
