mother!

I will preface my review of 'Mother' by revealing two things: First, my opinion of Jennifer Lawrence's merits as an actress is very low and I'll leave it at that. Second, I like and have an appreciation for Darren Aronofsky's merits as a film maker. Of his films I've seen, I especially loved 'Noah', 'Black Swan', and 'Requiem for a Dream'. Despite how much this film was maligned and eviscerated by critics and the majority of viewing audiences upon it's initial release, I still wanted to watch it. My thinking being that I was going into it with a 50-50 chance. Meaning, I'd likely hate it because of Lawrence's usual insufferable screen presence, but I'd likely love it due to Aronofsky's brilliant film making.Now, having watched it twice within the span of one week, I am thoroughly glad I gave it a chance because I like it a lot! In the simplest of terms and the main point I am going to drive home, is that 'Mother' will eventually 15 to 30 years from now, will be considered a cinematic treasure within Aronofsky's film portfolio. I strongly feel that the current derision and hate it gets will eventually disappear. As with many avant-garde ventures that forces the public to think beyond their comfort zone, rarely are such works appreciated within their time. It takes time, change of thinking, and change of scenery for such works to be appreciated for their brilliance. 'Mother' as a film has faults, but make no mistake, this film is splendid in many ways. Lawrence surprisingly did not annoy me this time around, and Aronofsky delivered his usual muted but breathtaking and visually polished storytelling.From my personal interpretation of the film, Javier Bardem, who is never called by name, is God and has writer's block while he attempts to write a literary masterpiece (presumably the bible). Jennifer Lawrence is the titular mother, mother nature/Gaia, God's wife. God and mother nature are married and live a solitary, sexually lukewarm but peaceful life in a quiet countryside fixer-upper house. In my interpretation, the fixer-upper is the universe after God's six days of creation. Ed Harris, representing who I think is science/technology/academia (some say his character is Adam), stops by unexpectedly when he suffers an ailment. He is soon after joined by his alcohol swilling wife Michelle Pfeiffer, who to me represents vice/doubt/stubbornness (some say her character is Eve). Both their presences give mother nature a literal head and tummy ache as the two methodically build a wedge between her and her beloved, God.Setting off a dark and disturbing snowball of inevitable events, the two sons of Harris and Pfeiffer: greed/ambition (some say this character is Cain) and apathy/indifference (some say this character is Abel) join in on the fray and escalate tensions between the two couples inside the once peaceful household. As a result of an impulsive fait accompli, additional uninvited friends, family, acquaintances, and hangers-on of technology, vice, greed, and apathy all come to the fixer-upper and cause mother nature to loose her cool and question her wits. Helplessly, mother nature sees that her already strained marriage to God is being antagonized further by the selfish and careless actions of the uninvited guests (mankind) who leave a mess everywhere inside her home.'Mother', as can be deduced from my above interpretation is a didactic allegory, chronicling the growth and destruction of God's creation (the world/universe). Despite the meddling of technology, the amorality of vice, the destructiveness of greed, and the dangerous indifference of apathy, God eventually finishes his literary masterpiece, which becomes an instant best-seller, giving God the fame and adoration he so craves when he gives it to the neighbors and the uninvited guests (mankind). As we all know from being alive right now, and as Aronofsky shows us vividly on screen, God's literary masterpiece (the bible) is distorted and figuratively mangled by his fans and uninvited guests who use God's work unjustly as a means to further their own selfish agendas. Depicted viscerally and disturbingly for the faint of heart, even when God and mother natures's newborn son, who I interpreted as innocence/goodness/enlightenment (some say this baby is Jesus) is presented as a gift to calm the uninvited guests down, the guests literally tear the baby apart piece by piece, throwing mother nature into a heartbroken frenzy and inconsolable despair.Despite the naysayers of this movie, I think 'Mother' is a beautiful film. It requires that the viewer watch carefully so as to see all the powerful and thought-provoking nuggets. There are plenty. Aronofsky intricately weaves symbolic anecdotes and countless biblical references that will make the viewer think critically as they watch every frame. Yes, 'Mother' is arresting and uncomfortable to watch and quite frankly it should be. Reason being that there is nothing comfortable or pretty about the destruction of the world or the distortion of God's words. As an Anglican, even I can admit that there is nothing comfortable about one group of "fans" saying they know God's word better than others do. There is nothing good that will come out of fanaticism. There is nothing good that will come out of greed, vanity, and selfishness. Nothing good will come out of hatred, when love and acceptance should be sown and cultivated.I don't know why others hate this film or why some think the film is trash. If I had to guess however, I'd say it is because those who hate it either don't know what good film making is, and or are not ready to confront or reconcile with the message that the film is trying to convey. Some people - film goers and the world at large - would rather be complacent yet blind, rather than open their eyes to see the true and unsavory role they play in the destruction of the world around them.If one pays close attention and appreciates this film for what it is, it is easy to glean that one of the major lessons to be learned is a sisyphean one. 'Mother' paints a bleak picture with caliginous tones and disquieting implications, to later show that the ill actions of the uninvited guests (mankind) are redemptive, leading to a cyclical tumble that will repeat itself time and time again. Still though, even if eventually redemptive, we must ask ourselves: why continue to be self-destructive when we can do things right the first time so as to not only save ourselves, but save the world around us. I guess what I'm trying to say is if I were Javier Bardem's character, I'd have given up a long time ago after realizing time and time again that the uninvited guests (mankind) are sh*t and are a selfish bunch who are hell bent on destroying my name and creation. In other words, God is giving too many undeserved chances even though he could simply end it all and live a solitary life with his beloved. God knows he could but he chooses not to.As I mentioned initially, I think 'Mother' will eventually be seen as a cinematic masterpiece several decades from now. It is a fantastic film and the only reason I gave it four stars out of five is because a couple of the special effects looked a bit rudimentary, unfinished to a point that on occasion took the believability down during some sequences. Other than that, the acting from everyone, even Jennifer Lawrence's, was top notch and commendable. Javier Bardem as God, with his deep and commanding voice is super sexy and we even almost get a full-frontal nude scene of him. Editing and cutaways thwarted whatever naughty thoughts I had while watching this particular scene :-)Michelle Pfeiffer and Ed Harris are also excellent in their roles. The story of 'Mother' is a timeless tale and the film is stirring. Most importantly, the lesson it is trying to teach is an important one that we should all pay close attention to. For film lovers who have an open mind, be you a religious person, a spiritual individual, or an atheist, I think everyone can get something out of this film. 4 stars out of 5. I recommend it and I also recommend you watch it more than once.

I saw all of the one star reviews, so I figured this was probably going to be some weird overly talky indy thing, and even if it ended up being bad, it would still be a grand failure. And for a while it did seem pretty good, but the third act goes off the rails and ironically it pretty quickly became boring notwithstanding finally having some action. Structurally the third act doesn't fit with what's gone before, like segueing baroque chamber music into punk rock. Both could be wonderful on their own, but together they just cancel each other out. I lost all emotional connection with the characters and found myself constantly looking at the time remaining, just waiting for them to get to the point already. And when they finally laid it out, it was predictable, mean, offensive and misanthropic. Nevertheless, it's a film that’s trying to engage you intellectually, and it does have some interesting ideas. It’s well acted, and well shot, and certainly builds a good atmosphere, at least in the beginning. It's not your usual fare. So it's not without merit. I was going to give it four stars until the third act. It seems like the kind of film that some people would like immensely. It engaged me, and made me think about it enough to want to write a review, where many better films have not.As others have noted, this is hard to discuss without spoilers, soSPOILERSI kept trying to figure out what was going on. First it seemed like The Cat in the Hat, then Rosemary's Baby, then some weird supernatural thing. Then I figured it might be about how the Masculine and the Feminine relate to each other. Then it was maybe rich successful Hollywood types whining about the demands their fans place on them. Then a simplistic putdown of religion. And so on. Eventually you figure out that it's about everything and nothing. All of mankind's faults and none of his virtues. And this is one of the film’s biggest weaknesses, although some might consider it a strength. A good piece of art is about one thing. That one thing may have great depth, or have many aspects, but it’s still one thing. There’s a scene here where Him tells Mother that everyone loves and understands his new work, but they all get something different out of it. That’s kind of what’s happening here. This film throws so many different things at us that you can pick and choose the pieces you want to keep. But the clutter isn’t really depth. It’s just lots of individually superficial things that together don't really add up to all that much.A huge problem with the film is its structure, with most of it played straight as a deliberately paced thriller with supernatural overtones, but the last half hour or so being a frenetic absurdist fantasy parable. The two just don’t mix. In watching movies, we understand genre, and accept a film according to the conventions of its genre. So we interpret all of the creepiness in terms of what it might mean in a thriller. There’s clearly something supernatural going on with the house, which seems to be a living organism. We wonder why the blood stains can’t be washed away, and why the blood appears to be caustic. And what about that weird dungeon or cave or whatever it is hidden behind the wall in the basement? The house itself feels dangerous, and Mother is clearly confused and terrified by it, even while she appears to have some kind of psychic connection to it, and won’t leave it ever. It’s explicitly his house, and he’s clearly an unreliable ally, so we wonder if he’s somehow lured her into a trap of some sort. But then it turns out that no, there really wasn’t anything going on after all. It was just a parable about Cain and Abel. The bulk of the movie ends up being discarded as simple misdirection, and it annoys us that we’d spent time trying to understand the characters, who were interesting and drawn in pretty good detail.The pretty explicit anti-Christianity also needs to be discussed. I’m not a Christian, but really, this was pretty offensive. For one thing, anti-Christianity has been done to death so many times already that the cliché police should have stepped in and shut down the whole operation. And here it just plays as blind bigotry. Many of the positive reviews applaud this, saying that it exposes uncomfortable truths about Christians. This makes me think that they’re simply liking the film because it supports their prejudices, just as they plausibly claim that those giving it one star are doing so because it criticizes Christianity. This is kind of why propaganda films are hard to evaluate. On either side, it’s hard to separate the art from the message that it’s trying to convey. Good art avoids doing this.None of the characters are particularly likable, which is also problematic. In this telling, everyone and everything is bad, including the God stand-ins. We’re meant to sympathize with Mother, but she really doesn’t do anything except be victimized. So while we do identify and empathize with her, that doesn’t really let her off the hook for her passive aggressive smothering of Him. And Him, who everyone seems to agree represents God in some way, is a total narcissist who seems to be motivated entirely by his need for adulation. Mother resents him when he can’t produce, and is angry that he gets attention from others when he does produce. And the humans are one disaster after another. While they will occasionally, for brief moments show kindness, they quickly revert to form. Gods, humans, everyone is just a selfish jerk. It’s hard to relate to this vision.Something else that caught my attention is that she is called Mother, but he is not Father. He is Him. This seems particularly interesting given that in the Christianity that the film mocks, God is in fact explicitly referred to as Father. So it’s telling us that he who we call God is not the father, but an imposter of sorts. And the whole conception scene plays out like that. It really feels like the Adam and Eve family collectively is the true father. And it’s a rape, which is very animalistic. The whole encounter with the family is a rape from start to finish. She wants nothing to do with them. They’re callously and destructively invading her space. She does all she can to repel them. Mother’s pretty clearly frigid, as Michele Pfeiffer snarkily points out to her. And she implicitly concurs by stealing the sexy underwear. Him is impotent. It’s only when he’s high on his exciting interactions with the family that he obtains the power to have sex with her. It’s their energy in play, not his. He’s really nothing without the humans. All of his apparent power derives from them. This seems to be saying that the gods aren’t real, and only have power because we believe in them. Or perhaps more importantly, it’s saying that we created ourselves. The great mass of humanity in fact arrives at about the time that her nominal child is born. They’re the offspring of the first family.So what’s the point of all of this? Who knows. But whatever it is, it’s a dark and pessimistic vision.

I have used the word masterpiece before, especially to describe music that I personally adore but this opus astounded me with it's brilliance. It is incredibly difficult to review this film without creating a Spoiler. Even watching 'the making of' I noticed that the Director ( Darren Aronofsky) didn't want to give too much away either. If you are a young person It's possible that it will just go right over your head, as I have discussed it tentatively with a younger audience. I hadn't a clue what was happening until the main character had reason to write His 2nd book and only then were my reasonings confirmed when the proceeding horrific event took place. It was only then during the next ghastly and grotesque scene of a common human ritual did I fully understand what I was watching! I had not planned to keep this film when I bought it but it is now a treasured possession. My only criticism ( I awoke the following morning still wrapped up in deciphering different scenes!) is that there were no animals represented in this oeuvre d'art. I hope that it wins all 3 of it's Oscar nominations. ENJOY!!

A film that has been on watchlist for around two years now since I missed it at the cinema and have had the Blu-Ray since last year. This is one of the most divisive films in recent years, and after watching it I can understand why. mother! sees a couple’s (Jennifer Lawrence & Javier Bardem) relationship become tested when uninvited guests (Ed Harris & Michelle Pfeiffer) arrive at their home, disrupt their peaceful existence and begin a series of escalating events.This is the second of Aronofsky's movies that I have seen (the first being Requiem For A Dream) and I have the rest on my watchlist. His direction here is very impressive. The camerawork is very claustrophobic and tightly focused on the character as they take up most of the frame. It also makes the large sprawling house feel condensed and difficult to move around, this becomes reality later when the house becomes a seething mass of people. There is some visually beautiful and also truly horrific cinematography with a varied colour palette that makes the film have a memorable visual style. The editing of the film also is impressive, the violent sequences are truly brutal and raw in the way they are cut and the final sequence is a truly frantic and off the rails in its presentation and yes the finale is truly as disturbing and shocking as you’ve heard.The performances are brilliant. This is definitely Jennifer Lawrence’s best performance of her career (of her films I have seen so far), she goes through hell in this film and we witness her completely losing her mind at it progresses. She’s conveys anger, confusion, love and sympathy all in the space of minutes at times as the situation becomes more and more hostile and strange and her physical performance also is excellent, she really throws herself into the scenes. Javier Bardem is also very good here, a work obsessed writer who really doesn’t seem to bothered by the fact that complete strangers are arriving in his house and doing what they want. His character is an interesting one and you never really know what his motivations and thought process is. He goes from loving and caring about Lawrence’s character (who is simply known as ‘Mother’ in the credits) to ignoring and forgetting about her entirely. Ed Harris & Michelle Pfeiffer are also excellent as the couple that first appear in the house, Pfeiffer especially gives a menacing and venomous performance and it’s also good seeing Kristen Wiig play a serious (albeit very small) supporting role.The film is very heavy on its metaphorical religious imagery and would be lying if I said I understood all of them and what exactly was going on within the plot. The plot itself I do find to be the weakest aspect of the film due to it relying so heavily on the imagery and the pacing, though consistent, is a slow burn and the structure is slightly repetitive during the middle section of the film.mother! is a very original and striking film with some brilliant performances, impressive direction and camerawork and a shocking finale sequence. It’s plot meaning may be confusing and slow at times however this is certainly a film you won’t forget in a hurry.

this film is like marmite you will either love it or hate it , i loved it and Jennifer Lawrence performance was stripped back and raw. we get to see the angst of a mother as her home is falling apart because her feelings and thoughts and desires are not seen or heard just like the earth we are living on. thoughtful, though provoking, one that we will talk about and try and dissect for a very long time

Just watch this, it’s a story that’s as old as the human race, each of us will see themes from ancient to contemporary within this film. It’s a personal experience powerful, hard to watch at points, but I did not experience a gratuitous use of violence. I felt impacted by the end it’s not a comfortable ride.

A bizarre, nightmarish film that builds upon a real sense of discomfort, claustrophobia and confusion through to its supernatural conclusion. Great acting by the ever youthful and beautiful Jennifer Lawrence and the ever sinister and ruggedly handsome Javier Bardem who are "strangely" paired for the plot. A brilliant parody of human "civilisation" or just weird, you decide. Something unusual and thought provoking for a change.