Have you ever walked away from a film, having experienced all
it has to offer, and walk away thinking, “I enjoyed that, but I don’t know
why?” I know I have.
Mother! by Darren
Aronofsky was showing at the theatre on campus so I’d thought I go and see it,
after missing it at cinemas when it was released. I had heard from both critics
and audiences that it was an odd one to say the least. With Aronofsky’s
previous projects consisting of Black
Swan and Requiem for a Dream, he
is notorious for making dark and testing films. Mother! Is no exception. With Jennifer Lawrence playing the
character of Mother and Javier Bardem, who is only ever referred to as Him or
The Poet, the film takes place in a house that seems to be in the middle of
nowhere with both our leads working to create the perfect house for Mother and
The Poet to live in for the rest of their days. Everything is sunshine and
roses until Ed Harris’ character of Man stumbles upon the house and disrupts
the tranquil being of the house with his smoking and drinking. Before you know
it, his wife, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, arrives at the house leading to what
seems to be a never-ending string of events that begin to not only damage the
paradise created by Mother, but her physical and mental wellbeing is also being
damaged in the process. After the Man and Woman’s time in the house, there is a
sudden influx of people who begin to swarm to thee house resulting in one of
the most chaotic final acts to any film I’ve ever seen.
If I were reviewing this film I would give it a strong 8.5/10. Its excellent performances from
Lawrence and Bardem, powerful storytelling combined with the immersive filming
and sound design make for a thrilling ride. Alas, this is not a review as I
think it would be more productive to discuss something else entirely, and that
would be the divide between critics and audiences. I bring this up because it
is apparent that general audiences did not receive this film well. Making only
$44.4 million at the box office and averaging a 68% rating on Rotten Tomatoes,
this shows that not only were people not going to see this film, but critics
were also divided in their reactions to Mother!.
So, let’s break this down, why was this film received with such mixed
reception? I think it’s a mixture of different factors: the way in which the
film was marketed, what the film actually represents and the gender politics
inside the films meaning.
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| In case you didn't know, they're married. |
Let’s begin with the posters and trailers. I, like most,
believed Mother! to be a horror film.
The typical strangers show up at the door with chaos slowly but surely ensuing
is a common trope of horror. However, don’t sit down thinking you’ll be jumping
out of your seat because this ain’t that kind of horror movie. It builds
tension to the point where you could breathe on said tension and it would snap
so suddenly you realise you are transported out of this paradise-like house and
into a nightmare of a world that depicts the transgressions of modern day
society. Didn’t expect that when you watched the trailer did you? I know I
certainly didn’t, which takes us back to the way this was marketed. Of course,
you can’t show any of this in the trailer because that would give away the
entire premise of the film, but if you look back at the posters, it says so
much more than any teaser trailer. So, from the start point, people do not know
what they are going to get with Aronofsky’s new project, and I believe that to
be a good thing! Too many times I have watched the trailer for a film, bought
my ticket at the cinema and said, “I know exactly how this is going to pan out”,
leading to an underwhelming experience. You do not get this with Mother! as it’s very much its own brand
of film. So please don’t be put off by the ambiguous trailers, embrace them!
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| She is LITERALLY falling apart. |
Following this is the struggle with gender politics. People
know Jennifer Lawrence, typically, for being an empowered female actor who has portrayed
a variety of strong female characters, such as: Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games franchise, Mystique in
the new X-Men prequel trilogy and (some
might debate on this one but) Tiffany from Silver
Linings Playbook. Her character in Mother!,
named Mother coincidentally, is treated as if she were a piece of dirt at the
bottom of your shoe. She is dismissed constantly, disrespected by all and
abused both mentally and physically by those who claim to love and worship her.
It is a difficulty watching this unfold, as I said in the beginning, due to the
fact that watching her be beaten and battered isn’t entertaining. But why do I
still like this film? The message behind it, that Patriarchal dominance, be it completely
toxic and amoral, is still a part of our society and happens every day. If 2017
has taught us anything about sexual misconduct however, it’s that we are
standing against it. Again, all you need do is to look at one particular poster
depicting Mother’s face deteriorating. From this, Aronofsky is compiling all
the torment Lawrence’s character experiences and displays it in one image. Mother! takes note of all things women
endure in life and compacts it into a tightly constructed narrative that, and I
say again because I cannot stress this enough, makes it such a hard watch. This
is not a film which is retrogressive in gender politics, nor is it progressive:
it is realistic of how the world is and how some individuals see it as such.
Finally, what is the meaning behind Mother!? Well it’s all rather simple really: Think biblical
allegory/religious criticism/socio-political thriller. A lot to take in I know
but trust me it all comes together seamlessly. We have our two main characters,
Him and Mother, working on building their dream house into a paradise (those familiar
with Milton’s Paradise Lost will
already be drawing connections) in the middle of nowhere. Soon enough Man and
Woman arrive, Adam and Eve, who begin to cause trouble in paradise. They are
rude, disrespectful and soon overstep their mark by disregarding the orders of
the Poet by intruding in his office, otherwise known as eating an apple from
the Tree of Knowledge. If things couldn’t get more tense, their sons, Cain and
Able, show up. Causing more and more disruptions to the lives and house of
Mother! and Him, they are cast out. Not only this, but when embraced by more of
his people/fans of his work, he soon begins to ignore Mother and her needs
leading to the breaking down of the dream of their house and any idea that they
can live together. If you haven’t put these pieces together to form the puzzle
that is Mother!, I’ll tell you that
Javier Bardem’s character is portrayed as God and Lawrence’s Mother is in fact
Mother Earth. It outlines the toxicity between the philosophies of both Mother
Earth and God. One seeks approval and love from those he created to stimulate
his ego whilst the other loves all unconditionally as well as patient until she
is hurt by those she occupies so much, she finds she has no more love to give
to those who do not reciprocate her love. Not only is this being a criticism of
the Christian deity being a selfish being rather than benevolent, but is also a
comment on what we are doing to our planet. War, pollution and civil
differences are killing this planet that not only houses us, but cares for us.
How do we repay Mother Earth? We take her love and turn it into hate. These
themes are so profound and deep that I, an English Literature student, embrace
often in the texts I study and the essays I write. This is a film designed to
be discussed but I think audiences who want their cinematic experiences to be
simple will not find the concept of Mother!
appealing at all.
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| If you don't make a face that look remotely like this at the end, you haven't been paying attention. |
To conclude, Mother!
is a great film. It tells a compelling story, creates excellent characters and
its ending wants the audience to go away and think about what they just
witnessed. It is just a shame that many find this film to be very divisive
rather than entertaining. Therefore, if you love a good debate or discussion about
film and want to delve deeper into what you just experienced in the last few
hours, Mother! is built just for
that.
