After The fatherFor which Florian Zeller won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and Anthony Hopkins for Best Actor, the filmmaker and playwright returns The son. Interview…
The subject is serious. Nicholas (Zen McGrath) is not doing well. The teenager suffers from depression and has been absent from school for several months. Desperate, her mother Kate (Laura Dern) complies with her request to live with Peter (Hugh Jackman), her father, remarried to Beth (Vanessa Kirby) and both parents of a baby. But the teenager is no better…
The mental health of young people is the focus of this feature film, and Florian Zeller resisted the temptation to provide answers as he adapted his play, co-written with Christopher Hampton.
“I was very careful not to make a simplistic statement,” the director stated in an interview with agency QMI. Why is a being in pain in a moment? The characters evoke the parents’ divorce, of course there are undoubtedly traumatic and psychological reasons, but in reality the suffering is a great mystery. We all know people who would have everything on paper to be happy, but who are in big trouble. There is something that cannot be easily understood or reduced to a single dimension.”
The evil of life is difficult to explain. “There is of course a psychological dimension, but also a biochemical and sometimes purely chemical dimension. We don’t necessarily know why, sometimes we don’t want to live anymore. And I just wanted to confront this mystery, this black hole and everything that destabilizes it in a family ecosystem.
“The story is mostly told from the point of view of the parents, who are loving parents, who are caring parents, who, even if they don’t always have the right keys, try to open the doors and who do it with the best of intentions,” he said he.
Avoid the worst
Recalling that in France a third of young people have mental health problems and that this alarming number is undoubtedly the same in other countries, including Quebec, Florian Zeller leaves no doubt about his conviction.
“When it comes to physical health, things are a lot simpler. When someone tells us they have cancer, we tell them that we are there for them and that we don’t feel bad about not knowing how to react, not knowing how it works. We don’t ask ourselves what we did to bring about this disease. When it comes to mental health, guilt and responsibility clouds our perspective.”
According to the writer and director, the tragedy can be avoided. “In this particular case, the tragedy could have been avoided. It could have been avoided if the right words had been used when starting a conversation. I believe this is urgent and necessary. I have always been struck by ignorance, guilt and shame around mental health issues.
“I think it’s fundamental that we’re comfortable in all of these conversations, that we’re comfortable in tackling this affliction head-on, without looking the other way, to help people in trouble without embarrassment. In “The Son” he is a father who, despite all his good intentions, cannot admit that he is not up to the situation and who does not ask for help, who does not listen to the doctors because he has the impression that he, as a parent, must find solutions.
The Son: Emotional shoot for Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman and Florian Zeller had communicated for another project years ago. But after The Father won Oscars, Hugh Jackman read The Son. The two men told the rest during the press conference presenting the feature film at the Venice Biennale.
“As I read The Son, I felt a fire in my stomach. It was a compulsion. It’s a very scary, very beautiful feeling, and one that you rarely experience as an actor, to feel that the role was made for you. What’s scary is that there’s a chance we might not get the part,” said Hugh Jackman.
“I emailed Florian and said I’m interested if he doesn’t have anyone in mind. We spoke shortly after. Yes, I was looking for the role and I’m glad I got it.”
The director received his email and was touched by the actor’s humility and honesty. “I felt his approach was special. We met via Zoom – that was two years ago and it was the only way to get in touch. It was supposed to be a first meeting, I didn’t intend to make a decision,” recalls the screenwriter.
“And after eight minutes I offered him the role. I felt something very strong about why he was connected to this story. And I felt like he could honestly and humbly explore all those emotional territories. It was the best decision of all, the journey was joyful, honest and intense.
A cathartic shooting
Hugh Jackman lost his father to COVID-19 while filming The Son. “I remember telling myself I have to rely on everyone. I used to withdraw into my own world when I had to shoot a particularly emotional scene. And then I said to myself that I have to heal, that I need the team, the camera, the sound, the people, everyone. I had to rely on her. And I felt my father’s presence,” he confided to CBS.
The son left a lasting impression on the father, the actor. With children aged 22 and 17, Hugh Jackman changed his approach to parenting.
“I’ve learned that it’s okay not to know, it’s okay to show your vulnerability. Now, as a parent, I’m going to tell my kids I don’t know, I’m not sure.”
“The film will stimulate conversation, allow us to say that we can’t know, that we can rely on others, that we can take our time and that we need to realize that we need a village to raise a child. “
- The Son hit theaters across the province on January 20.