Aronofsky's "mother!" (Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem)

[moviedoors]

Is it all about the metaphor of a guy who loves being loved too much or is the point of the movie the Biblical metaphor?

It's conceived and intended as Biblical allegory, but it's accidentally about ego-driven artists sucking their loved ones dry; Aronofosky subconsciously seems to have made a movie that thinks he's as big a dick as he thinks God is.

I'm in a strange place with this flick. It was never far from my thoughts after seeing it. Once I realized that the Biblical allusions are the Rosetta stone for decoding everything, it really clicked into place what Aronofsky was up to. But I still just don't much like it. I didn't enjoy the experience, finding that it tested my patience. Nobody is ever a character; they're too busy contorting themselves into analogues from the Bible to ever come to life on their own terms. I actually wish it was more opaque. It reminds me a lot of ANTI-CHRIST, a film I still don't have a complete handle on, but that I like all the more for it. I don't think that movie even has a straight-forward means of decoding it, but it makes emotional sense, and it's all the more fascinating for it. This one is too on-the-nose, and frankly I've almost always been left cold with Aronofsky when he falls into his misery-porn trappings, and this was no exception.

 

[Bats123]

Man this was ****ing bizarre and entertaining.

I dig it.

 

[Closerframe]

It reminds me a lot of ANTI-CHRIST, a film I still don't have a complete handle on, but that I like all the more for it. I don't think that movie even has a straight-forward means of decoding it, but it makes emotional sense, and it's all the more fascinating for it. This one is too on-the-nose, and frankly I've almost always been left cold with Aronofsky when he falls into his misery-porn trappings, and this was no exception.

Antichrist was less of a biblical anthology and more of a case study on gender archetypes and societal expectations as it relates to dealing with death and therapy. If any movie should be called as controversial as A Clockwork Orange, it’s Antichrist. I absolutely love the movie but can understand people’s frustrations for it coming across as torture porn. Antichrist was also a more intelligent film than mother! but I digress.

 

[guitarsingerguy]

Harvey Weinstein on Why Polarizing Darren Aronofsky pic mother! is a Masterpiece.

That dude just gets off on pissing people off.

 

[Wildcard]

That dude just gets off on pissing people off.

It's literally all he knows.

 

[Elayis]

Went into this knowing nothing about it, just a fan of Aronofsky's past work (particularly Requiem, The Fountain & Black Swan).

Unfortunately, I hated everything except the last 5 minutes or so. Maybe it's because I'm not a Christian and don't know much about the Bible, but the story and the characters didn't do anything for me.

Personally I think it was a mistake to anthropomorphize allegory like this. None of the people felt real to me, or acted like one would expect a human being to act, so I couldn't connect with any of the characters. An interesting attempt, but a major misfire I think.

Not even sure what I would rate this.

 

[Kane52630]

None of the people felt real to me, or acted like one would expect a human being to act,

Which was done deliberately.

 

[Elayis]

Which was done deliberately.

I know. It's just not a style of filmmaking I can enjoy. It constantly felt like the filmmaker was disingenuous, like he was deliberately feeding the audience a misinformed and distorted view of human nature. I wonder if this is how Aronofsky sees humanity, and if he really hates people that much.

 

[Elayis]

This also felt very much like a play, and I’m not a fan of plays being adapted without changes made to fit the medium of film (I know that this is an original work).

I was honestly bored for most of it (that might have to do with the lack of score), and the 3rd act craziness just had me rolling my eyes. Somewhat reminded me of It Comes At Night, another movie I didn’t much care for. Wish it had been more similar to something like The Witch.

And was it just me, or did the CGI look terrible? For $30 million, you’d think it’d look much better than it did.

 

[moviedoors]

Personally I think it was a mistake to anthropomorphize allegory like this. None of the people felt real to me, or acted like one would expect a human being to act, so I couldn't connect with any of the characters. An interesting attempt, but a major misfire I think.

That's such a great way to describe it. Look at a movie like Get Out; there's all kinds of allegories, and double-meanings, and metaphors going on, but all that is secondary to it having a functioning narrative that plays as a story on its own terms.

 

[Ruth Fisher]

omg i LOVED this movie! I thought it was so entertaining and i really connected to it because i love mother nature a lot. And usually I am not a fan of Jennifer Lawrence but she was good in this.

 

[guitarsingerguy]

That's such a great way to describe it. Look at a movie like Get Out; there's all kinds of allegories, and double-meanings, and metaphors going on, but all that is secondary to it having a functioning narrative that plays as a story on its own terms.

Get Out's allegories are much more obvious though. I think the only mistake that mother made in the marketing was not letting people know that it was gonna be biblical. Not everyone knows even the most basic and common Bible stories. Can you imagine how confused those people must have been? They must have ABSOLUTELY HATED the film with no real idea why.

 

[kevork89]

I don’t know if anyone has discussed this further but the yellow liquid she drinks, what exactly was that?

 

[guitarsingerguy]

I don’t know if anyone has discussed this further but the yellow liquid she drinks, what exactly was that?

That's the one thing where there are about a billion different theories with no clear answer. What do YOU think it represents?

 

[I'm Old Greg]

Mother was Brilliant! I went to the dollar store and bought a bible and tewatched Mother! With my dog. It was just how can a human put such mastery, beauty and really tell us what were doing wrong with our lives and with are true mother. God I hope theres a sequel.

 

[Kane52630]

God I hope theres a sequel.

 

[kevork89]

That's the one thing where there are about a billion different theories with no clear answer. What do YOU think it represents?

Damn that’s the one thing that’s stumped me. Everything else makes sense and the symbolism and how it ties in to the story is all so clear except that one thing for me lol

 

[killface]

bible 2: bible harder

 

[Incarnadine]

Harvey Weinstein on Why Polarizing Darren Aronofsky pic mother! is a Masterpiece.

That dude just gets off on pissing people off.

It has become abundantly clear that's not the only way he was getting off over the last 30 years...

 

[kickass]

Damn that’s the one thing that’s stumped me. Everything else makes sense and the symbolism and how it ties in to the story is all so clear except that one thing for me lol

What about that damn thing that was in the toilet? Or the heart or whatever in the floor under the carpet? What were those supposed to be?

 

[Galactus10]

This is my favorite movie of the year so far because it resonated the deepest.

My full review can be read at:

http://roccocaz.squarespace.com/mother/

 

[Kane52630]

Aronofsky was on Marc Maron's WTF podcast... it's worth checking out.

 

[redhawk23]

Thanks for the heads up.

It will never happen, but I honestly think this movie should be up for a production design Oscar. There was a strong sense of design in that house, which they then destroyed. Behind the Scenes I know they had to build several versions of it. It's pretty great all around, with its repeating honeycomb patterns and such. The set is absolutely essential to the film.

 

[Kane52630]

 

[redhawk23]

WHo is the artist on that one?