#mothermovie

[dizzydjc]

I just watched mother! (2017)

[jane-1775]

#JenLaw #jenniferlawrence #gorgeous #Sexy #Stunning #talented #goddess #JLaw #Blondie #redsparrow #iaminlove #celebritycrush #celebritycrushes #TheHungryGames #passengers #americanhustle #motherMovie #JoyMovie #houseattheendofthestreet https://www.instagram.com/p/CIk7xpDnBFJ/?igshid=luby56rpstj8

[scheierndevin-blog]

Watched this awkward, uncomfortable, and strangely interesting movie today...not sure how to feel...😅 #mothermovie #mothermovie2017 #jenniferlawrence #actress #javierbardem #movies #movie #amazon #amazonprime #amazonprimevideo (at Lancaster, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpif84pApwA/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1bshu66hz4i8c

[makaientjluvdaprince]

I just watched mother! (2017)

[mntstr-blog]

Saw this Gem Recently, One of Darren Aronofsky's masterpieces. Great Metaphors for the way we Treat the Environment. Sometimes you may be uncomfortable and confused but it is certainly worth the price of admission.

[gif-iti]

INSA x MOTHER

[j0rdanvic]

I just watched mother! (2017)

[jenniferlawrencefilms]

NEW BTS picture of Jennifer Lawrence on the set of mother! movie

[jennifer-law]

Jennifer Lawrence at the NYC Mother! premiere | @jennifer-law

[alexisdoroteo]

Ella / Her “Ella da y toma la vida” Finished 32 • 49 cm. . . . . . . . . #drawingoftheday #drawing #art #tattoo #love #architecture #photooftheday #sketch #artsy #artbook #model #arte #instagood #illustration #inspiration #picoftheday #pencil #beautiful #paint #watercolor #ink #guadalajara #shadows #artwork #igdraws #mothermovie #women (at Bosque de la Primavera)

[dizzydjc]

mother! (2017) ★★★★★★★★☆☆

[shudaikiland]

mother! (2017) ★★★★★★★★★★

[hgamesfan]

It puts Jennifer Lawrence through the mill for no purpose except nurturing a strain of masochism of which she has been blessedly free. She’s a tough, funny, and smart actress. I’d hate to think of her as just another doll for a director to torture.

Vulture review of mother!

http://www.vulture.com/2017/09/mother-is-a-second-rate-self-aggrandizing-tour-de-force.html

[goddessesofthesilverscreen]

Michelle Pfeiffer photographed by Niko Tavernise on the set of mother! (2017, Darren Aronofsky; also pictured: Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Brian Gleeson)

[notesomi-blog]

‘mother!’: The Most Ambitious Movie of the Year

mother! | 2017 | Director: Darren Aronofsky | Country: US

Warning: Full Spoiler Review

I’ve been eagerly anticipating this latest Darren Aronofsky’s movie called “mother!” ever since I saw its first poster. It shows Jennifer Lawrence’s character in a white dress holding her bleeding heart (literally). I was transfixed by its aura of beauty meets horror. This poster alone can be interpreted in some ways. Then months later, the official trailer finally arrived. I watched it with sheer delight because the tone of this movie―from the confused female character to some of the surreal imagery―reminded me a bit of “Black Swan”, Aronofsky’s much lauded psychological horror movie. I also got some “Rosemary’s Baby” vibe from it. So I was excited to find out that some of the promo posters look like some homage to “Black Swan” and “Rosemary’s Baby”. By then, I thought I had figured out what this movie is about. Man, how wrong I was.

The story of “mother!” revolves around a couple who lives in a secluded house. The husband, who’s much older than his wife, is a poet facing writer’s block and in need of greater inspiration. His house was destroyed by fire and he had lost almost everything until he met his wife. His wife was the one who helped restoring his house from scratch. “We spend all our time here... I want to make it paradise,” she said. Their seemingly serene life was disturbed when an old man suddenly came to their house one night. This stranger’s arrival was only the beginning of stranger things to come.

From its promo materials, I was pretty sure that the story of “mother!” would be revolved around some cult or satanic theme, hence the “Rosemary’s Baby” vibe I felt. As I said before, I was wrong. I still can feel the similar atmosphere though, mainly through the perspective of the paranoid main female character. But this movie as a whole is more than just a paranoia-filled offering. The whole concept is so ambitious that I needed some time to wrap my head around it after the movie ended.

First, let’s talk about the title. It uses exclamation point after the word “mother” and I feel some aggressiveness from it. There are, indeed, a lot of aggressive acts against the mother character throughout the movie. Who does mother refer to anyway? Yes, mother is the main character played by Jennifer Lawrence. Now, the mother in this movie isn’t supposed to be seen from the maternal context, because this character is actually the personification of... mother earth? At least that was what I can assume after finished watching this goddamn movie. My expectation was destroyed. This is not a psychological horror a la “Black Swan” or paranoia-filled horror a la “Rosemary’s Baby” as the promo materials suggest. Those promo materials were deceptions, guys. But hell, I was sure glad that this movie turned out to be something entirely different.

There were some moments throughout the movie where I uttered to myself, “Is this thing actually about the...? Hmmm... never mind... let’s keep watching.” And the other time, I was like, “Holy fucking shit, what is this?” My mind was going places and I felt like I need to replay some of the scenes immediately. By the end of this movie, I was thinking that maybe it is about the birth and death of planet earth, going in circle. I also have suspicion about the role of some of the characters and realized that they don’t have an actual name. So I started to pay attention to the credit title. Then realization dawned on me and I thought to myself, “Is this true? It’s actually about the Bible? OH MY GOD yes I think it is.” In the credit title, the character of Javier Bardem is written as Him, with capital H, whereas the other characters are written all in lowercase. My suspicion is true. He is the personification of God. That’s why the title, “mother!”, is also written all in lowercase. Goddammit! Then my mind replayed some of the scenes and started to connect the dots. So Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer’s characters are Adam and Eve, and their two sons are Abel and Cain? Are the frog and the spray of blood some cues for the ten plagues? Okay, I won’t go far from this scenario because I think that’s not my place and I just don’t have the knowledge for it. I don’t know if Aronofsky has actually crammed all of his interpretation of the Bible into a two-hour giant metaphor... I mean, movie. If that is the case, it means that he has made a movie adaptation of the Bible. That is one big ambition, sir.

Despite that metaphor thing, Aronofsky also infuses some criticisms into “mother!”. One of them is about the violent human behaviour towards environment, or should we call it mother earth? As I mentioned before, Jennifer Lawrence’s character can be interpreted as the personification of mother earth and there are various aggressive acts against her by almost all of the characters throughout the movie. Those acts were some of the reasons why this movie was quite uncomfortable to sit through.

For me, the casting of Jennifer Lawrence is spot on. I felt that her physical appearance here is accentuated, from the choice of her outfits to the way the camera frames her figure. Before calling it objectifying, note that it’s in line with the concept of the character. Mother earth is supposed to appear attractive, almost bare so everyone can see her whole beauty. I think Lawrence fully embodied this character. Most of the time, the camera frames her face in close-up, so we can see her facial expression clearly. She appears innocent at first and becomes more bewildered when random people start to flood into her house. Her face says it all. I’ve been a fan of her since I saw she her breakthrough role in “Winter’s Bone” and I think mother is her bravest role yet.

Another criticism that is infused by Aronofsky into this movie is about an artist’s obsession and relationship with his art. He also depicts how fame and idolatry can be destructive. All of them are presented in such extremity, particularly during the last half of the movie. It becomes more and more fucked-up towards the end.

All that aside, there is one particular plot point that struck me the most: the intrusion of personal space. I can relate so much to the mother character when she feels disturbed by the arrival of strangers into her house. As an introvert, I highly value my personal space and I can be extremely uncomfortable when some people invade it without invitation. I feel you, mother earth. I guess “Intruders!” could be a more appropriate title for this movie, no?

In the end, I think I understand the polarizing nature of “mother!”. This movie surely has potential to offend some people. For the other people, may they be amazed by its big ambition and bold narrative. I, myself, fall into the latter spectrum. I believe that this movie will spark some conversations and it deserves to be talked about for years to come.

Let’s give props to Darren Aronofsky and all the team involved who have pushed the boundaries and presented one of the most ambitious movies of the year. They prove that Hollywood’s major studio still has some guts to bring interesting “left field” concept to life. Cinema has limitless possibilities and a lot of potential to be explored after all.

[ericbill]

Watching Mother!