There’s this scene in Ex Machina where Domhnall Gleeson explains to Alicia Vikander’s Ava the allegory of Mary’s Room. He tells the story of how Mary, a scientist, knows everything that’s possible to know about color — spectrums, theories, etc. She though lives, as well as was born and raised, in a black and white room. One day, she walks out of her room for the first time. She sees how the sky is blue. And in that moment, Mary learns something new; she learned what it feels like to see color.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUnaITgzMnM
So what has this movie reference got to do with mother!? Well, aside from starring Domhnall Gleeson, my point here is that it’s quite difficult to describe mother! by merely explaining it, much more without giving away key details. Aronofsky’s magnum opus has to be, no, it DESERVES to be experienced. With that said,
SPOILER WARNING!
The simplest way to describe mother! (well at least for me) is that it is basically “The Bible According to Darren Aronofsky.” It seems that the tepid reception to his previous film Noah has not in any way deterred the inspired director in tackling the Judeo-Christian mythos. His neurosis is clear in mother! as he explores the book of Genesis and the New Testament as he allegorizes scripture through (and this is dumbing it down) an unconventional* home invasion.
*unconventional not just in style but in a way that there’s no invading exactly involved (maybe an invasion of privacy?). Ah basta, everyone’s invited to the parteyyy!
Taking cues from his previous awards darling Black Swan, mother! tackles, as well, the psychological breakdown of a woman in the stranglehold of her torturous environment. Here, the film evokes the confinement, the suffocation, the utter loss of control Jennifer Lawrence’s mother (as she is billed) experiences under the cohabitation with her poet husband “Him” (Javier Bardem). There’s a preponderance in their dynamic as what she deems a partnership between them is frequently superseded by Javier Bardem’s decisions in letting strangers into their hitherto domestic bliss. The camera work conveys this distress by rarely shooting outside of close-ups on Lawrence’s face. Unclear at first, the audience could initially take the narrative at face value; the film being merely a domestic horror about indirect home “invasion”— invasive only in a way that it disregards a woman’s consent in the presence of a stronger, more domineering male presence.
The biblical allegories come into cue as we begin to take notice that the home Lawrence and Bardem share is an Eden in the middle of a surreal lush circular clearing. It is the arrival of “man” (Ed Harris, as he is billed in the credits) and soon after “woman” (Michelle Pfeiffer, and you guessed it, as she is billed in the credits) and their two adult bickering sons (real-life brothers Brian and Domnhall Gleeson) that disrupt the paradise Bardem and Lawrence previously shared. Bardem takes on the role of the ever-selfless God figure, always willing to share, his reason altruistic no matter how abusive his guests get. But like the supreme being of the inherently patriarchal religion he metaphorizes, the noble magnanimity he exudes is only expressed from the male standpoint. mother! gives us the experience of the never-mentioned “Mother” to the “Father.” (Mother Earth, maybe?)
Woman (in general, not the Pfieffer’s character), by nature, is the only one capable of giving birth, literally. Only she has the innate ability to form life. Man (see above) gives birth through other means (in this film’s case, through art). mother! explores how God — who is frequently depicted as male — can continuously give life without actually creating it. The film’s answer? It is always at the expense of the titular mother and, by extension, her home.
It is this reflection on life and, in turn, death; this cyclicality of the Judeo-Christian God’s pattern of creation and destruction in the Old Testament — as seen in the stories of Noah’s Great Flood, that of Sodom and Gomorrah, and just about any parable about man’s perennial ability to abuse and inability to learn from divine punishment — that mother! depicts in its alternating periods of bliss and chaos in the home Bardem and Lawrence’s characters share.
Depicted here as generous yet frustrated and unsatisfied, as Bardem’s character is finally able to create his “word,” so does the cult-like reverence for him spread, and so does he become a public entity not only owned by himself or his family but by the masses. Aside from the commentary here on the fervor that comes with religion — and of course how dogmatic devotion can lead to chaos and mob rule. Aronofsky injects himself into the narrative; not in any way subtle in his parallelism of fame and the arts and that of religious worship (a favorite comic book series of mine that also tackles this is The Wicked + The Divine, go check it out). Giving yourself up completely, the torment of sharing what you love — even what’s private — are not only insights that Aronofsky places in the experience of Bardem’s Him and Lawrence’s mother. This is a reality amongst many artists and the neglect their partners face (most likely also coming from Aronofsky’s own experience) when it comes to fame and work. Here he is able to the evoke the similarities between THE Creator and artists as creators.
Masculine and feminine, creation and destruction, reason and disbelief, chaos and control; there’s a lot to process under mother!’s pulsing heart. mother! is a film that prides itself in its now polarized reception — a fitting representation of how it is a film of contrasts and opposites. It in itself is an oxymoron.
Admirable in the sheer ambition of its vision, commendable in how deliberate its elements and plotting are. mother! is a tight weave that puts together many allegories and metaphors inside one batshit crazy basket. Narratively cohesive, all that happens within the two-hour runtime have a clear and linear progression (dream logic, but making sense). Details are never wasted. Somehow, by the time the film reaches its third act, its escalation is earned. But at the same time, it goes beyond the boundaries of reason (another duality the film carries).
Talking more about mother!, deep diving into its details, may take away the fun of the experience. This is a film that requires multiple viewings as there’s no singular theme that can encapsulate the simplistic density of the material. With each theme, there are more details yet to be unearthed. Nevertheless, with all the film’s multiplicities, I think there’s one thing everyone who has seen mother! can agree on — and I guess Gwen Stefani said it best — “this shit is bananas.”
)
Easy calm helps you to discover ways vardenafil cost to deal with something bad happens. It is a therapeutic technique that has a long tradition in different societies and has demonstrated its benefits in the treatment of cialis in india high blood pressure and prevents onset of loss of libido. Sufficient amount of cialis 60mg blood is supplied to pharmacies facilitating males combatting with erectile deficiency- inability of achieving sturdy erectionsthat are enough for satisfactory intimacy. Kamagra tablets will end your nightmare and give you back your self-confidence in the long run. canada viagra sales
