| Mom: Oy! |
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| written by talltale |
October 22, 2005 - 8:05 AM PDT |
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9 out of 10 members found this review helpful
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Based on some of the reviews I'd read, I was expecting a load of pretension from MA MERE. Instead I found a quietly horrifying look at a dysfunctional family that makes most other DFs look like small potatoes. The beauty of the location (is this one of the Canary Islands?) and the cast (Isabelle Huppert, Louis Garrel and Emma de Caunes among them) provide an ironic juxtaposition to the increasingly shocking and destructive goings-on.
The psychology here seems real--even if its beginnings and underpinnings go unexplained--and the performances, writing and direction abet this psychology. As sad and often unappetizing as the movie is, there is enough humanity in the characters (and talent in the actors who play them) to hold you tight and keep you enthralled--if appalled. Say what you will, the film has the courage of its convictions--such as they are--up to and including its artful and sticky end.
Call me a sicko, but I found "Ma Mere" memorable in its way. It will certainly make those of us who come from a dysfunctional family grateful for the comparatively minor dysfunctions with which we had to contend. (But then, as the movie also makes clear, the wealthy are always able to tinker with the more enjoyable, higher-end dysfunctions.) |
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