Mother! - Review Thread

I’ll preface this review by saying I will be writing with spoilers as it’s essentially impossible to reflect on this film analytically without doing so. This is a film where the less you know the better, as it’s the journey and what that journey manifests through the lonely feeling of being in the dark and confused as to the chaos erupting around you, much like Jennifer Lawrence in the film. This is a film that will piss off people for decades, and anyone frustrated with Aronofsky’s other work will find a new level of anguish with Mother! Again, if you haven’t seen the film, do not read this review. Make your own opinion of this film, love it or despise it, before seeking out reviews. I waited two days after seeing this to formulate my thoughts without digging too much into reviews and others’ analyses of the movie. There’s a lot to absorb despite Aronofsky essentially spelling out what the film means and bringing his religious allegories to the forefront. It’s an impressive and daring piece of cinema, and despite its flaws I am always far more forgiving of a film that fails in aspects while attempting something unique than a movie that tries nothing and does nothing.

Darren Aronofsky has been one of the most unique voices and talents in cinema since his feature debut in 1998 with Pi. Since Pi, he’s made some of the most memorable adult dramas of the last two decades exploring religion, drugs, and being haunted by the past among several other themes that delve into the intense personal struggles of his protagonists. He’s never been a director of compromise and isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers, as indicated with his last film, Noah, which was roundly despised by audiences because it didn’t follow the formula for depicting Noah as a savior and rather as a selfish jerk who would sacrifice others for his blind pursuit of his religious relationship with God. Noah was heavily flawed, but also an ambitious attempt at deconstructing the legendary figure in a very ballsy way. Mother! will upset and divide even more people, and it’s arguably Aronofsky’s most ambitious film despite not reaching the heights of his best work, like The Wrestler and Requiem for a Dream. It’s a film that channels the style and ideas of Ingmar Bergman, Roman Polanksi, and even Luis Bunuel while still operating under Aronofsky’s vision. It’s a film that succeeds in generating an emotional response from its viewer, and one that does so by completely eschewing subtleties and thrives on chaotic momentum until the film’s climax.

The film centers on Mother (Jennifer Lawrence), the wife of renowned poet Him (Javier Bardem), who live in isolation in a large house surrounded by trees with no visible road coming and going from the property. Their peaceful existence is interrupted one night when a doctor (Ed Harris) knocks on the door and is subsequently invited by Him to stay the night. Mother objects but ultimately is coaxed by Him to let the doctor stay since it’s revealed he’s a big fan of the poet and is dying. It becomes clear though that he has no intention of leaving, and he’s later joined by his maliciously blunt wife (Michelle Pfeiffer). The couple becomes far too comfortable, and despite Mother’s pleas for them to leave, they continue to stay at the home. Eventually their two sons (Brian and Domhnall Gleeson) arrive, culminating in a Cain and Abel allegory where one of the sons kills the more favorable one. The family later leaves, and there is a moment of peace and quiet as Mother and Him conceive a child. As Mother creeps closer to giving birth, a flurry of unruly people ascend upon the home, resulting in one of the wildest displays of anarchy and chaos you’ll see in a film.

I can say that for myself, I felt incredibly tense and uneasy from the opening frame to the end of the film. Many of the shots remain in this Bergman-esque close ups on Lawrence as we track with her through the home’s tight corridors. There’s always a sense of claustrophobic anxiety that permeates throughout the film, and as one intruder after another invades the home, we feel like our own personal space and privacy is being molested. Characters come and go from the home, and never does it feel like the safe place that Mother wants it to be. None of this is helped by the fact that none of the characters, Mother included, act even remotely like rational people. Everyone’s behavior around Mother is wildly unpredictable, but one thing for sure is that these “guests” appear to be seeking a sense of order and safety but only seem to thrive in pure chaos and destruction. The scenes of the “guests” tearing the house apart to take and take and take reminded me of Luis Bunuel’s brilliant 1960 film Viridiana, in which a nun who only sees the good in people invites several unfortunates into her home only to see them give into their selfish desires and attempt to rape her. I’m not sure if Aronofsky is making the same argument about people, but he is depicting the social struggles of the haves and have nots pretty blatantly. Bardem’s character wants to give to others and share his home, while Lawrence’s character is reluctant to share the beautiful home, an allegory for her child, with strangers who are there only to receive. I’m still trying to process what exactly Aronofsky is saying since he appears to be making a socialist message while showing the results of welcoming anyone and everyone can result in chaos, destruction, and ultimately tragedy.

Another theme that feels prevalent in the film is whether or not the creation of art or a home is more important than those creations impacting people and helping them. “Guests” flock to the home to revel in the greatness and hospitality of the poet and his words of sharing and unity. Mother’s creation, before that of giving birth to her actual child, is the home, which she constantly remarks she has put a lot of work into and sees it as her creative outlet. But unlike her husband’s poetry, she only wants to share this home with Him, and is distraught by her husband’s passive attitude when it comes to turning these “guests” away. At what point does sharing something become too much? Is giving really what helps society, or does it only want to destroy itself no matter how much is put into it? Again, there’s a lot of complex ideas going on here, all of which appear to be allegories to biblical stories and characters that tie into what Bardem and Lawrence’s characters ultimately are: creators. Lawrence creates in a maternal form, giving birth to a child and building up a home while Bardem creates through words and interactions with others, seeing only the good in people and willing to entice their worst behaviors.

The final act of the film is where Mother! ceases to operate as a Bergman or Polanski film and becomes one more akin to the work of Lars Von Trier. It’s complete chaos as hundreds of “guests” ransack the home, culminating in wild sequences of swat members arresting and killing people and Mother running through the house past cages of people. She finally finds a place of safety where she gives birth to her child. Despite her determination to let no one, including Him, touch the baby, she lets her guard down briefly and the baby is lost to the crowd. The baby is later sacrificed, in a truly horrifying sequence, and eaten which no doubt is a direct symbolism of the body of Christ being eaten. At this point, Mother’s greatest creations, her child and her home, have been stripped from her, and she elects to destroy the house in a fiery blaze. After doing so, we cut to Bardem carrying Lawrence’s badly burned body telling her that he is the creator, and he must start again. We then cut to the first shot of the film of Mother waking up, only this time it’s not Lawrence but a new girl as the cycle starts over again with someone new. It’s an interesting but frustrating ending because attempting to grasp what Bardem’s ultimate goal is isn’t clear. Does he want Mother to give the gifts of life to everyone like him? Is the role of the creator to give people things and ask for nothing in return? What is the end result he wants these incarnations of Mother to achieve? It’s one of many elements of the film that are difficult to grasp because again none of the characters act rationally. I’m sure on another viewing some of these ideas will be more clear, and to be honest I was entranced by the extreme tension and uncomfortable atmosphere that the film embodies for two hours and allowed myself to be swept up in the wild ride that the film is.  Aronofsky has stated that Lawrence is supposed to represent "mother nature", creating beauty that society continually destroys.  This would likely also point to Bardem's poet seeing her as only a muse to illicit inspiration from, only to cast her off when he's done with her.  These are very interesting ideas, but it's hard to feel the weight of this with every character being so unrealistic in their portrayals.  If anyone in the film acted with a shred of reality, I think a lot of this would hit home more effectively.  Instead of characters, we're just given more engines for Aronofsky's themes, and I'm not sure if in the end that's the better approach.

I’m still processing the film, and there’s plenty that I liked and did not like. It’s a more complex film than Black Swan, but I don’t believe that makes it a better one. It’s a film that feels like it’s saying so much to the point that it’s almost conflicting and you wonder if Aronofsky, who has stated he wrote the film in five days, ultimately has a firm stance on anything. Again, the film presents a lot, and does it really say that creating something for others is a good thing, or is it better to keep it locked up and for yourself because others will only destroy what beauty it contained. I think an argument could be made for either, as both Bardem and Lawrence and blinded by their own desires and obsession with their creations. It’ll be interesting to read theories from those willing to perform the diligence required to break this film down. It’s a movie that’s wildly frustrating and manic, and it’s not one that I’m surprised has gotten the negative reaction that it has. But bringing something as bold as this to the cinematic table is never easy, and despite issues and questions that I have with Mother! I walked out of the theater seeing something I had never seen before, and that alone warrants merit and accolades for one of the industry’s most visionary directors.

7/10

Talk about mood/atmosphere being killed by technical glitches.  The Blu Ray that came from Netflix was scratched (which I didn't even notice at first), and while 98% of the movie played just fine, of course, it froze/skipped during two very crucial moments:



I was still able to get the gist of what happened in those two scenes, but man, was I taken out of the movie by that.

As for my overall thoughts on the movie...I'm still digesting it.  I definitely see what people mean by the last half hour being so intense and upsetting, and I'm still kind of recovering from it.  But I think the fact that I was so invested in everything by then to have such a strong reaction speaks loads as to what I thought to the quality of the film.  The unease just builds and builds throughout, and I have to commend Aronofsky on that.  Plus, the performances by Bardem and Lawrence were fantastic.  I got most of the metaphors, or at least the main ones, so I was able to roll with the style.  I think this one might stay with me for a while.

Wikipedia article:

"In a bed, a new Mother forms and wakes up, wondering aloud where Him is while the crowd of moviegoers that just saw the film wonder aloud what on Earth they just subjected themselves to."

If I ever sound like I'm name dropping to the point of obnoxiousness or anything just tell me, I just thought this was kinda cool.

Not too long ago I was in a work meeting and Steven Spielberg was there. We were talking movies and someone asked if he had seen mother! He said he had and when the same person asked what he thought he said 'I like Darren, he's a great filmmaker but whatever personal issues he has he really needs to deal with them at home and not on screen.'

Ouch.

Says the guy who's spent the first twenty years of his career working out daddy issues.