Ladies and Gentleman, I stand before you a critic lacking the format to properly describe the film that I have just witnessed. There’s an entire book of writing that could be written on Darren Aronofsky’s recent cacophony of culture, horror, and theology that is mother! But I only have a couple of words to attempt to convey all of this. Wish me luck. The wheat fields stretch on forever like a Norman Rockwell painting, but everything that happens suggests that this is a lie predicated by two people, the mother, and the father. She stands as the mother, trapped, never to leave the home, lacking almost any kind of agency while she has to clean up the mess that those around her and that her husband allow. There is the father, allowing for the creation of the beings that tear the pair’s world apart. The father, the drawer of exaltation to the masses that consume everything that they have given them. That’s as much as one can write about this without totally spoiling this movie, and lacking that ability to spoil the core that everything surrounds I seem quite paradoxically lost for words. Constrained by an inability to break out into a rant about the ever deeper contexts of the film, the layers of content (this is, after all, a review), I find myself having to skim the surface and see what I can let out. I will say this. This a perfect art piece, deeply rooted in Aronofsky's nihilistic sensibilities and fiercely well read theological layering. mother! is everything Aronofsky’s been building to over his career and more, mixing elements of Requiem of a Dream, Black Swan, and The Fountain into a concoction that leaves one exhausted but also in exaltation. It is under those circumstances that I tell you that the acting and direction is stubbornly incredible. You won’t see better handheld camera work visuals in any movie period, you won’t see the delicate balancing of larger than life images with those of intimate and understandable anxiety either, and you haven’t seen a film vault from fearsomely sexy to fearsomely disconcerting with this much confidence...ever. Javier Bardem is a revelation. Bardem always had a delicacy to him that easily molds itself to this difficult character, both unabashedly vain in his acceptance of praise, almost feasting on the exaltation of humanity, yet always regretful. Jennifer Lawrence almost seemed to disappear down the rabbit hole of Hollywood blockbuster acting but has come roaring back with the confidence of a full blown movie star. Same with Michelle Pfeifer and Ed Harris, who show up in roles that at first seem insignificant but leave the audience floored with their daringness. There’s so much Biblical reference, interpretation of man’s effect on the universe around him and intimate condemning of the theological centers of so called, “normal life” that it would have to take actors who could actually convey everything on screen without breaking under the sheer ambitious weight of their roles, and these two greats hold their own. They are at once representative of deities, humans, the mother and the father and much, much, more and succeed magnificently. In closing, I’d like to say the basest thing I can about the film. The lofty ambitiousness of the piece might benefit from a bit of boiling down. This is a Darren Aronofsky film. After the middling (though by no means terrible Noah), this is a Darren Aronofsky film. A challenging masterwork of art house cinema that displays itself to you and leaves you in a wrecked stupor, both able to explain the intricacies of its genius, but also too damn speechless to do so. I am aghast, floored, and eagerly waiting for the teenagers going into what they think is just a simple horror movie starring J. Law to have their minds so blown it’ll look like Scanners. I give mother! a 10 out of 10.
1 Comment
Matt H
9/14/2017 10:55:07 pm
Really insightful review, Mr. Tronicek! You have definitely convinced me to buy a ticket! I look forward to reading plenty more of your work!
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |