Review of MOTHER!: Struggling for Sense

September 21, 2017

Of all the movies released this year, this film had been the most polarizing, dividing critics who really loved it from those who really hated it. This controversy over this film's quality of course made me more curious to go see it in order to judge it for myself. This is director Darren Aronofsky's seventh film. Like "Requiem for a Dream" and "Black Swan," "Mother!" is also a surreal psychological drama. Like "The Fountain" and "Noah", "Mother!" also had biblical overtones.

The characters have no names. There is a famous middle-aged poet (called Him) and his much younger wife who lived in an isolated house. While the poet struggled to write a new masterpiece, his wife spent the days building up their house from ruins of a previous fire. Even if they loved each other, they did not have any children.

One day, a Man suddenly visited their house and confessed to be a big fan of the poet. Later, a nosy Woman came, whom the Man introduced as his wife. From there, the peaceful life of the poet and his wife was shattered with a series of increasingly bizarre intrusions. While the poet seemingly welcomed all the attention, the whole situation became a living nightmare for his wife.

As the wife was struggling to make sense of all the terrible madness that was going on in her own house, the audience too will be struggling to make sense of all the terrible madness that was going on on that big screen. You can pick up some Aronofsky's biblical inspirations in the jumble of scenes, like Cain and Abel in the first half, or the Paschal sacrifice in the second half (a most disturbing scene!). But some details defy simple explanation, like the yellow calming tonic, the secret room in the basement or the recurrent bloodstain on the rug.

The dynamic cinematography, especially those closeups and those crazy angles, was so "in your face" such that you cannot simply look away. Aronofsky and his "Black Swan" cinematographer Martin Libatique were definitely in the zone as far as the camera was concerned. The visual effects were also well done and kept the images on screen exciting.

Jennifer Lawrence really went through the wringer for this as her character was pushed to the brink of madness especially in that harrowing second half. The onslaught of physical exertion and emotional breakdown for her was relentless, plus she even had to give birth to a child! I could hardly breathe even as I am only watching her. I can only imagine how exhausting shooting this film was for her. 

Javier Bardem's character was such a paradox. He was loving and forgiving, but at the same time, he was so egotistical and narcissistic. For me, his was the most unsettling and potentially offensive character in the whole film. I dread to imagine what sort of symbolic message Aronofsky wants to say about God the Father with this character.

Ed Harris played the Man charismatically, the adoring fan who sought the poet out because of his mortality. Michelle Pfieffer though was downright nasty in her role as the Woman, so meddlesome and pushy, so hateful and hypocritical. Their two sons were played by the two Gleeson brothers, Domhnall playing the angry elder son, and Brian the favored younger son. There was no time to get to know them better as they went in and out of the scene with such shocking suddenness. 

Overall, the film works well to get us all thinking, confused and riled up. You cannot not react. It is not boring. It is supposed to be uncomfortable. It may astound you. It may irritate you. It will incite you to feel something about it - be it positive or negative. People behind the film intimate that this film was about the abuse of Mother Earth. It could be about how husbands can be so selfish in their relationships with wives, or of poets and their muses. For me, it could mean any form of abuse that will eventually head for disaster.  

It is not hard to see why people will either love or loathe this film. It is a piece of modern art which is very open to any interpretation by its various viewers. Mainstream viewers who look for a clearly-told story in the films they watch will not see it here. They will hate this film for wasting their time. However, people who like picking the brains of the director will enjoy the challenge of figuring out what the hell this film meant or was trying to say. 

As the credits roll up, it will be the viewer to decide whether he liked it or not. I personally may not agree with all the director's seemingly atheistic sense of religious allegory. However, as a film, I cannot deny that "Mother!" was a fascinating audacious piece of art cinema. 7/10.