Vital involvement versus ultimate confusion: two contrasting portrayals of dementia in the movies The Father and Floride
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This paper addresses the possibility and importance of cinematographic representations of dementia that offer an alternative to its popular medicalized stigma. This is explored by comparing two film adaptations of the same theatrical play by Florian Zeller, The Father. While The Father’s (2020) film version by Zeller himself does not depart from the notion of dementia as a story of decline, Le Guay’s Floride (2015) focuses on the main character’s ability for imaginative storytelling. Through narrative analysis, we demonstrate that while Anthony’s confusion in The Father is an utterly despairing sign of cognitive decline, that very confusion is a vehicle for playful imagination in Floride. The vitality underlying such acts of unbridled imagination, along with a matter-of-fact approach to the interruptions of dementia, challenges the negative, deeply seated stigmas of persons living with dementia. Juxtaposed in this manner, these two adaptations provide a unique opportunity to re-examine the role of popular culture in dementia discourse.
Metrics
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Since 2020 the International Journal of Ageing and Later Life uses a Creative Commons: Attribution license, which allows users to distribute the work and to reform or build upon it without the author's permission. Full reference to the author must be given.
References
Addison, H. (2003). Hollywood and the Rise of Physical Culture (Studies in American Popular History and Culture). New York: Routledge.
Baronnet, B. (2021, March 18). Floride sur France 3: connaissez-vous le lien avec The Father, nommé 6 fois aux Oscars? [Florida on France 3: Do You Know the Link with The Father, Nominated 6 Times at the Oscars?]. CultActu. Available on https://www.cultactu.fr/floride-sur-france-3-connais¬sez-vous-le-lien-avec-the-father-nomme-6-fois-aux-oscars (Accessed: November 9, 2023).
Basting, A. D. (2009). Forget Memory: Creating Better Lives for People with dementia. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Beasley, T. (2021, June 11). ‘The Father’: Florian Zeller Made the Film in En¬glish for Anthony Hopkins (exclusive). Yahoo! Movies. Available on https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/father-florian-zeller-anthony-hop¬kins-121006349.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM-6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABm-DXVguVj4IPtdEmfNHJw59gSlE9xv7XsqHjM5RMpKznCyTmP-CknS0Hjdu99Nf_xPW5XenUo12f7AMAji75YT5vDptAR9u4bED0FA¬TMgu_b6gLLlCxdp-j40HPpJd-MPJS4PcyStkhCYeHE5OrSxN1amPc_ t3YLX_HjVS98Ndcs (Accessed: November 9, 2023)
Bellass, S., Balmer, A., May, V., Keady, J., Buse, C., Capstick, A., Burke, L., Bartlett, R. & Hodgson, J. (2019). Broadening the debate on creativity and dementia: A critical approach. Dementia 18(7–8): 2799–2820. doi: 10.1177/1471301218760906
Boukhrief, N. (Director/Writer) & Moreau, F. (Writer). (2008). Cortex [Film]. Les Films du Worso; France 3 Cinéma, Wild Bunch [French, English Subtitles].
Brown, M. (2018). Late style and its discontents: Essays in art, literature, and music. Comparative Literature Studies 55(2): 423–427. doi: 10.5325/ complitstudies.55.2.0423
Capp, R. (2020). Head full of honey: Finding the sweet spot on demen¬tia awareness. The Gerontologist 60(2): 359–361. doi: 10.1093/geront/ gnaa002
Capp, R. (2021). The Father: Big lessons from “little daddy.” The Gerontolo¬gist 61(7): 1170–1171. doi:10.1093/geront/gnab
Capstick, A., Chatwin, J. & Ludwin, K. (2015). Challenging representations of dementia in contemporary Western fiction film: From epistemic in¬justice to social participation. In A. Swinnen & M. Schweda (eds.), Pop¬ularizing Dementia: Public Expressions and Representations of Forgetfulness Aging Studies (Series) Vol. VI (pp. 229–251). Bielefeld: Transcript Press.
Care Ethics Research Consortium. (2021). Interview with Eva Feder Kittay. Available on https://care-ethics.com/tag/philosophy/ (Accessed: November 9, 2023)
Chang-dong, L. (Director/Writer). (2010). Poetry [Film]. UniKorea Pic¬tures; Pine House Film; Diaphana Films [Korean, English Subtitles].
Chivers, S. (2011). The Silvering Screen: Old Age and Disability in Cinema. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Cohen-Shalev, A. & Marcus, E. L. (2012). An insider’s view of Alzhei¬mer: Cinematic portrayals of the struggle for personhood. Inter¬national Journal of Ageing and Later Life 7(2): 73–96. doi: 10.3384/ ijal.1652-8670.1272a4
Covey, H. C. (1993). A return to infancy: Old age and the second childhood in history. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development 36(2), 81–90. doi: 10.2190/3FNY-20EM-7L4Y-5FGM
DeBruge, P. (2015). Locarno Film Review: ‘Floride’. Jean Rochefort’s Most Re¬warding Role Since 1990’s ‘The Hairdresser’s Husband’ Gives the French Thesp a Welcome Late-Career Chance to Shine. Variety. https://variety. com/2015/film/reviews/floride-film-review-1201566391/ (Accessed: November 9, 2023).
DeCordova, R. (2001). Picture Personalities: The Emergence of the Star System in America. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Demme, J. (Director), Harris, T. (Writer) & Tally, T. (Writer). (1991). Silence of the Lambs [Film]. Strong Heart/Demme Production; Orion Pictures.
Dine, P. (2022). Jean Rochefort as ageing star: Masculinity and masquer¬ade. In T. Tracy & M. Schrage-Früh (eds.), Ageing Masculinities in Con¬temporary European and Anglophone Cinema (pp. 60–74). New York: Routledge.
Downing, L. (2004). Patrice Leconte. New York: Manchester University Press. doi: 10.7765/9781526141712
Ewen, S. (1976). Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Eyre, R. (Writer/Director) & Shakespeare, W. (Writer). (2018). King Lear [Film]. Playground Entertainment; Sonia Friedman Productions; Brit¬ish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Featherstone, M. & Hepworth, M. (1991). The mask of ageing and the postmodern life course. In M. Featherstone, M. Hepworth & B. S. Turner (eds.), The Body: Social Process and Cultural Theory (pp 371–389). London: Sage Publications. Available on https:// sk.sagepub.com/books/the-body/n15.xml#:~:text=DOI%3A, org/10.4135/9781446280546 (Accessed: November 10, 2023)
Gilbey, R. (2021, March 4). Florian Zeller on The Father: ‘Anthony Hopkins Took me in the Arms. We Knew the Miracle had Happened’. The Guardian. Available on https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/mar/04/flo¬rian-zeller-father-anthony-hopkins-miracle-olivia-colman (Accessed: November 10, 2023).
Golander, H. & Raz, A. E. (1996). The mask of dementia: Images of ‘demented residents’ in a nursing ward. Ageing and Society 16(3): 269–285. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X00003421
Geiger, A. (2017). The Old King in His Exile (S. Tobler, Trans.) New York: Restless Books (Original work published 2011).
Heeschen, V. (2001). The narration “instinct”: Signalling behaviour, communication, and the selective value of storytelling. In J. Trabant & S. Ward (eds.), New Essays on the Origin of Language. Trends in Linguistics Studies and Monographs (vol. 133, pp. 179–196). Berlin, New York: de Gruyter. doi: 10.1515/9783110849080
Hockey, J. & James, A. (1993). Growing Up and Growing Old: Ageing and Dependency in the Life Course. London: Sage.
Ivory, J. (Director), Ishiguro, K. (Writer) & Prawer Jhabvala, R. (Writer). (1993). The Remains of the Day [Film]. Columbia Pictures; Merchant Ivory Productions.
Kelly, B. (2015). Review: French Film Floride Captures Challenge of a Stub¬born Parent Losing His Mind. Floride is a Powerful Moving Drama About an 81-Year-old Man Living in Annecy Who Is Causing No Small Amount of Trouble for the People Around Him. Montreal Gazette. Available on https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/movies/review-french-film-floride-captures-challenge-of-a-stubborn-parent-losing-his-mind (Accessed: November 9, 2023
Kittay, E. F. (2011). The ethics of care, dependence, and disability. Ratio Juris 24(1): 49–58. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9337.2010.00473.x
Kittay, E. F. (2012). Getting from here to there: Claiming justice for the se¬verely cognitively disabled. In R. Rhodes, M. Battin & A. Silvers (eds.), Medicine and Social Justice: Essays on the Distribution of Health Care (2nd ed., pp. 313–324). New York: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/ acprof:osobl/9780199744206.003.0026
Kittay, E. F. (2019). Learning from My Daughter: The Value and Care of Disabled Minds. New York: Oxford University Press.
Kitwood, T. (1997). Dementia Reconsidered: The Person Comes First. Bucking¬ham: Open University Press.
Kitwood, T. (1998). Toward a theory of dementia care: Ethics and interac¬tion. The Journal of Clinical Ethics 9(1), 23–34. doi: 10.1086/JCE199809103
Langford, B. (2005). Film Genre: Hollywood and Beyond. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Le Guay, P. (Director/Writer), Tonnerre, J. (Writer) & Zeller, F. (Writer). (2015). Floride [Film]. Gaumont; F Comme Film; Ciné@ [French, English Subtitles].
Low, L.-F. & Purwaningrum, F. (2020). Negative stereotypes, fear and social distance: A systematic review of depictions of dementia in popular culture in the context of stigma. BMC Geriatrics 20(1): 477. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-020-01754-x
Marcus, E. L., Kaufman, Y. & Cohen-Shalev, A. (2009). Creative work of painters with Alzheimer’s disease. Harefuah 148(8): 548–553.
Medina, R. (2018). Cinematic Representations of Alzheimer’s Disease. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Medina, R. (2022). Writing the past to fight Alzheimer’s disease: Masculinity, temporality, and agency in Memoir of a Murderer. In H. Hartung, R. Kunow & M. Sweney (eds.), Ageing Masculinities, Alzheimer’s and Dementia Narratives (Bloomsbury studies in the humanities, ageing and later life) (pp.125–141). London: Bloomsbury. Available on https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/mono¬graph-detail?docid=b-9781350230637&tocid=b-9781350230637-chap¬ter7#:~:text=DOI%3A%2010.5040/9781350230637.ch%2D007 (Accessed: November 10, 2023)
Mirodan, V. (2018). The Actor and the Character: Explorations in the Psychol¬ogy of Transformative Acting. London: Routledge
Mitchell, D. T. & Snyder, S. L. (2001). Narrative Prosthesis: Disability and the Dependencies of Discourse. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Novaro, M. (Director/Writer). (2010). The Good Herbs [Film]. Axolote Cine; Fondo para la Producción; Cinematográfica de Calidad (FORPRO¬CINE); Institute Mexicano De Cinemtographia (IMCINE) [Spanish, English Subtitles].
Power, G. A. (2014). Dementia Beyond Disease: Enhancing Well-being. Baltimore MD: Health Professions Press.
Rai, M. & Banerjee, D. (2022). “The Father”: As real as it gets to living with dementia. Indian Journal of Psychiatry 64(2): 213–215. doi: 10.4103%2Fin¬dianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_608_21
Rave, Y. (2021, October 28). Ha’av: Seret eima me’pnei haziknah ve’kol mah shekashur bah. [The Father: A thriller movie about aging and all that is associated with it.] Calcalist. Available on https://www.calcalist. co.il/style/article/skpqdldif (Accessed: November 9, 2023)
Sabat, S. R. & Collins, M. (1999). Intact social, cognitive ability, and selfhood: A case study of Alzheimer’s disease. American Journal of Alzheimer’s Dis¬ease & Other Dementias 14(1): 11–19. doi: 10.1177/153331759901400108
Sawicka, K. M., Patel, N., Chan, D. & Tyndel, F. (2022). The father: A neu¬rology film club review. Practical Neurology 22(2): 171. doi: 10.1136/ practneurol-2021-003258
Scharge-Früh, M. (2022). Stories of exile and home: Dementia and mascu¬linity in Arno Geiger’s Der Alte König in seinem Exile and Ian Maleney’s Minor Monuments. In H. Hartung, R. Kunow & M. Sweney (eds.), Ageing Masculinities, Alzheimer’s and Dementia Narratives (Bloomsbury studies in the humanities, ageing and later life) (pp.145–161). London: Bloomsbury. doi: 10.5040/9781350230637.ch-008
Sotinel, T. (2015). Floride: voyage avec un esprit qui se perd. Au côté de San¬drine Kiberlain, Jean Rochefort bouleverse dans le rôle d’un homme frappé de démence senile [“Florida”: Traveling with a Lost Mind. Alongside Sandrine Kiberlain, Jean Rochefort Is Overwhelming in the Role of a Man Suffering from Senile Dementia]. Le Monde. Available on www. lemonde.fr/cinema/article/2015/08/11/voyage-avec-un-esprit-qui-se-perd_4720267_3476.html (Accessed: November 10, 2023)
Swinnen, A. (2013). Dementia in Documentary Film: Mum by Adelheid Roosen. The Gerontologist 53(1): 113–122. doi: 10.1093/geront/gns061
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2022). Anthony Hopkins – Welsh actor. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Available on https://www.britannica. com/biography/Anthony-Hopkins (Accessed: November 10, 2023)
Tseng, C.-I. (2017). Beyond the media boundaries: Analysing how domi¬nant genre devices shape our narrative knowledge. Discourse Context & Media 20: 227–238. doi: 10.1016/j.dcm.2017.05.001
Turner, B.S. (1987). Medical Power and Social Knowledge. London: Sage.
Ustaoğlu, Y. (Director/Writer) & Kaygusuz, S. (Writer). (2008). Pandora’s Box [Film]. Ustaoğlu Film Yapim; Silkroad Production; Les Petites Lumieres [Turkish, English Subtitles].
VandenBosch, J. (2021). Filming the “drama” of dementia. The Gerontolo¬gist 61(7): 1172–1173. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnab099
Venkatesan, S. & Kasthuri, R.R. (2018). ‘Magic and laughter’: Graphic med¬icine, recasting Alzheimer narratives and Dana Walrath’s Aliceheimer’s: Alzheimer’s through the looking glass. Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies 44(1): 61–84. doi: 10.6240/concentric.lit.201803.44(1).0004
Walrath, D. (2016). Aliceheimer’s: Alzheimer’s Through the Looking Glass. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Walsh, A. (Director), Gibb, A. (Writer) & Healey, E. (Writer). (2019). Eliza¬beth Is Missing [Film]. STV Productions; BBC One.
Wearing, S. (2023). Frames of dementia, grieving otherwise in The Father, Relic, and Supernova. Representing dementia in recent film. In R. Ward & L. J. Sandberg (eds.), Critical Dementia Studies: An Introduction (pp. 100–115). New York: Routledge.
Wijdicks, E. (2021). Lost in plain sight. The Lancet Neurology 20(12): 987–988. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(21)00144-7
Won, S. (Director), Hwang, Y. (Writer) & Kim, J. (Writer). (2017). Memoir of a Murderer. [Film]. Green Fish Pictures [Korean, English Subtitles].
Wright, J. (2022). Drawing and memory loss: Mapping and recording the journey through Alzheimer’s disease. Tracey 16(1), 1–13. Available on: https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/index.php/TRACEY/article/view/353/329 (Accessed: November 10, 2023)
Zeller, F. (Director/Writer) & Hampton, C. (Writer) (2020). The Father. [Film]. Les Films du Cru; Film4; Orange Studio