Oscar-winning film ‘The Father’ director Florian Zeller’s new film “The Son” has been selected for the main competition at the 79th Venice International Film Festival and will have its world premiere on September 7, local time.
Like ‘The Father’, ‘The Son’ is also based on the play of the same name by Florian Zeller, and the director and screenwriter Christopher Hampton have co-written the script again.
The film stars Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern, Vanessa Kirby, Zen McGrath and other co-stars, and Anthony Hopkins, who worked with Florian Zeller on ‘The Father’, also stars in the film.
The Son’ continues the theme of “Family Trilogy”, focusing on teenage parent-child relationship
The Son’ and ‘The Father’ are part of the ‘Family Trilogy’ series by Florian Zeller.
In ‘The Father’, Anthony, the main character suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, is caught in a spiral of time and space where memory and reality intertwine. The film’s labyrinthine viewing experience, touching story of father-daughter bonding, profound humanistic concern plus the divine performance of film star Anthony Hopkins and film queen Olivia Colman have earned the film numerous critical acclaim and multiple awards.
The Father’ won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, while Anthony Hopkins also won another Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his superb performance. Director Florian Zeller’s feature film debut was an unprecedented success and has raised expectations for his new work.
As Florian Zeller’s second directorial effort, ‘The Son’ turns its attention to the issue of teenage depression.
In the film, Peter (Hugh Jackman), a lawyer, lives with his new partner (Vanessa Kirby) and their newborn child. But Peter’s new life is disrupted by the appearance of his ex-wife Kate (Laura Dern) and son Nicholas (Zen McGrath).
Nicholas in adolescence is plagued by depression, Peter as a father tries hard to help him, but it does not work, Nicholas’ condition also makes Peter and the whole family are facing a new crisis ……
Hugh Jackman’s ‘The Son’ selected for the main competition in Venice
Talking about why he made ‘The Son’, director Florian Zeller said, “I couldn’t have made any other film but this one.”
The director wanted to use ‘The Son’ to explore the impact that depression issues can have on individuals and their families. “From the son’s perspective, he doesn’t know why he’s experiencing all this pain …… and the easiest way to understand it is that his pain comes from his parents.”
To Florian Zeller, the father in the film is a tragic figure who “thinks everything is his fault.”
In the movie, the father is played by Hugh Jackman, an Australian actor known for the ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ series of films.
Florian Zeller had just begun preparations for ‘The Son’ when he received a letter from Hugh Jackman, in which he said that if the lead role in ‘The Son’ had not yet been cast, he wanted the director to give him 15 minutes of his time He will let the director understand why he should play the role of the father.
The two then had an online video link and after 15 minutes Florian Zeller felt that Hugh Jackman was the father in the movie, “He was just talking to me and being himself and then I saw every element that I needed.”
Hugh Jackman, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, will contribute what kind of breakthrough performance in the film, so the audience and fans are looking forward to it.
Currently, the highly anticipated ‘The Son’ has been selected for the main competition at the 79th Venice International Film Festival, where it will compete with 22 other films for the Golden Lion for Best Picture.
‘The Son’ has been scheduled for release in Northern America on November 11 this year, so stay tuned.
Related Post: ‘The Son’ Releases New Stills, A Tangled Family.
