21h45, le 22 mai 2021
Florian Zeller still cannot believe he has directed “the greatest actor of all time”. At 83, Anthony Hopkins is jubilant to have won the Oscar (his second after that for Thesilenceofthelambs by Jonathan Demme in 1992) for his exceptional performance in The Father, the adaptation for the cinema of the play starring a man stricken with dementia, gradually losing his footing with reality. Contacted by Zoom from Italy, where he is on vacation, he appears smiling and relaxed.
How did you celebrate your award?
I was in shock, I didn’t expect to get it at all. In fact, I was in Wales, my homeland. The Academy had asked all the nominees from the United Kingdom to go to London or Dublin where a broadcast of the ceremony was organized. But I was on vacation and I couldn’t see myself making the round trip to the capital to sit for four hours in a room. So I chose to go to bed and quickly fell asleep by the way. Since there was an eight hour time difference with Los Angeles, I was woken up at 5 a.m. My phone rang and I heard the news. I immediately told my wife, who didn’t believe me. Then I got up and wrote a little thank you speech that I read in a video posted on social media. I was happy, very excited, and really sorry that I wasn’t there, but the pandemic is pushing for some drastic decisions.
Why did you accept the adventure of The Father?
The screenplay was so well written! I had felt the same evidence a few years ago when reading that of Silence of the lambs, both fluid and relentless. Usually when I get theater adaptations for the cinema, I don’t even watch because it bothers me deeply. But what Florian Zeller had accomplished stood out and the subject appealed to me. In addition, I corresponded to the age of the character. [Rires] Every day of the shoot was enjoyable. It was Florian’s first film as a director and his ease impressed me. All the greats, like John Huston, Orson Welles or Alfred Hitchcock, let their actors do their work and give them their trust. No need to be a manager to make yourself understood! I am wary of those who want to talk to me all the time: when people come to me to debrief a sequence, I go in the opposite direction.
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Florian Zeller knew exactly what he wanted, nothing superfluous
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Was it risky to show yourself vulnerable onscreen for the first time?
The situation required it. I always know the scenes by heart so I remain in total control. The lines are written, you just have to say them. You don’t have to be a genius, it just takes a little common sense. I am trained in European cinema, especially French and German dramas, not to mention Ingmar Bergman. I like this way of getting to the heart of the matter right away. Florian knew exactly what he wanted, nothing superfluous. What impressed me the most when I saw the film for the first time was the calm that emanated from it.
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What was your preparation?
We exchanged a lot of emails with Florian before the shoot. As my character listens to opera, I suggested my favorites: Rule, by Bellini, performed by Maria Callas, and The Pearl Fishers, by Bizet. I’ve always dreamed of being in a movie that uses this type of music. I often went from one strong emotion to another. When I get slapped, it doesn’t necessarily require preparation: I get a jerk, and that’s it. It still had to be done three times, but I did not take it badly. [Rires] I don’t complicate my life, acting is easy for me. Of course, I thought of my childhood, of my family. When the hero looks out the window at the breeze sweeping the fallen leaves in the street, it reminded me of the wind blowing from the sea in South Wales which, mixed with the rain, whipped my boyish face. [Il imite le bruit en fermant les yeux].
It’s not easy to deal with themes such as memory loss and the end of life …
Of course, it is not good to think about it too much. But today I am an old man, my adult life has prepared me for the deadline. I know that our condition here is temporary. My parents did not die of dementia. But I knew a friend in Los Angeles who was no longer in his head: he thought he was in New York and thought that his daughter was his wife who had died a few years earlier!
You paint, play the piano and post photos of your cat on Twitter! What are your aspirations today?
You summed up my life very well! [Rires] I read a lot too. I have a few films in the pipeline but of course the health crisis has created confusion all over the world so I don’t know in what order they will arrive. In any case, I am ready to work as soon as possible.
The Father***
In a plush apartment in London, an octogenarian is listening to opera when his daughter arrives, who announces to him that he has hired a home help. He categorically refuses… Consecration for the gifted Florian Zeller, awarded the Oscar for best adapted screenplay for his first feature film as a director. He succeeds with panache in the transition from theater to cinema with this poignant drama which tells of a man in the twilight of his existence, who is slowly losing his memory. The narrative takes its point of view for an immersion in the mental labyrinth of the outdated hero who distorts reality. The vertiginous staging, which has digested the codes of the fantastic film, eyeing the side of David Lynch and Roman Polanski, and blurs the spatio-temporal benchmarks in order to abuse the viewer, both destabilized and upset. The story tackles the perilous subject of addiction, old age and the end of life, likeLove (2012), by Michael Haneke, with extraordinary intelligence and subtlety. We are amazed at the performance of Anthony Hopkins, of incredible accuracy and precision. Magistral.
By Florian Zeller, with Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman. 1 h 38. Exit Wednesday.
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