For those that haven’t seen the film, The Father stars Anthony Hopkins as a man (named Anthony) struggling with dementia. The film puts you inside his head by having the cast appear as different characters while some characters are played by more than one actor. The set also changes making the viewer uncertain what room Anthony is really in. The result is a movie magic trick that took a lot of preparation and coordination between the various crew departments under 1st Assistant Director George Every.
The Father is actually the 2nd adaptation of the play by Florian Zeller. In 2015 it was loosely made into Florida. This time Zeller directed from an English translation by Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons). While the actors fluidly change their relationship to Anthony, the characters remain clearly defined. This isn’t a star vehicle for Hopkins, everyone is coordinating to pull this film off. Sometimes it’s the cast sharing personality traits and sometimes it’s the different rooms of Anthony’s apartment sharing the set dressing. The pre-production must’ve been detailed and exacting.
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