
In 1787, Friedrich Schiller published his story about a prince who manipulates, seduces, and ultimately falls victim to a murderous intrigue in Rococo Venice. The prince, an enlightened ruler with a penchant for worldly things, travels to the funeral of his brother, a sometimes mentally confused, generally incompetent, alcohol-addicted good-for-nothing who died in a brawl. Having come to fulfill a tedious duty, the prince falls in love with a mysterious beauty against a romantic backdrop of dreamy gondolas, castles, and masks, and she drives him mad. He, who is usually guided by incorruptible judgment, becomes increasingly entangled in the finely woven web of his invisible enemies from the nobility and clergy. For, despite all reason, it is a matter of succession to the throne and thus of power.
With The Father, writer-director Florian Zeller- who wrote and developed the play upon which the film is based- pulls no punches as he confidently makes every effort to put the audience in the mind of someone whose grip on reality has all but vanished. It’s a dazzling testament to Zeller’s abilities as a director as he makes his first transition from stage to film appear as if he’s been working behind a camera his entire career. The dialogue he fashions with co-writer Christopher Hampton, along with the work of production designers Peter Francis and Cathy Featherstone, collectively makes the downward spiral of dementia startlingly tangible, doing so in a way that can be comprehended by everyone except the person it directly affects.
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