Ma mère (2004)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Christophe Honoré

Writers:

Georges Bataille (novel)
Christophe Honoré (writer)

Release Date:

19 May 2004 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Based on George Bataille's posthumous and controversial novel: When his father dies, a young man is introduced by his attractive, amoral mother to a world of hedonism and depravity.

Plot Keywords:

Exhibitionism | Female Frontal Nudity | Homoeroticism | Teenager Nudity | Rimming

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Isabelle Huppert	...	Hélène, the Mother
Louis Garrel	...	Pierre, the Son
Emma de Caunes	...	Hansi
Joana Preiss	...	Réa
Jean-Baptiste Montagut	...	Loulou
Dominique Reymond	...	Marthe
Olivier Rabourdin	...	Robert
Philippe Duclos	...	The Father
Pascal Tokatlian	...	Klaus
Théo Hakola	...	Ian
Nuno Lopes	...	The Doctor
Patrick Fanik	...	Eric
Susi Egetenmeier	...	Woman in dunes
Sylvia Johnson	...	Woman of couple

Also Known As:

Meine Mutter (Austria)
My Mother (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated NC-17 for strong and aberrant sexual content.; Rated R for strong aberrant sexuality, some language and violent images. (special edit)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

France | Portugal | Austria | Spain

Language:

French | English | German | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:R | Canada:18A | Portugal:M/18 | USA:R (cut) | New Zealand:R18 | Switzerland:18 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud) | France:-16 | Italy:VM18 | UK:18 | USA:NC-17 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Canary Islands, Spain

Company:

Madragoa Filmes

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Caché (2005)

Soundtrack:

Happy Together

Eurotrash!

Ugh,i hate this film.Based on old provocative writings by Georges Bataille,set in contemporary holiday destination; the Canary islands,were tourists vacate,getting up to all sorts that you would expect on a holiday destination. Pierre(garrell) moves into his parents villa to live, after returning from a catholic boarding school. while there he gets a crash course in perverted sexual experimentation,mainly by his mother(Huppert),in particular who passes him off to her equally perverted friends. Huppert i thought was great in the piano teacher,here i felt she was misplaced in the film and distant. s maintaining this meticulous straight face throughout. This film at times played like an episode of Ibiza reps on sky one,with a bunch of pervy tourists taking part in a sex cult. Lois Garrell is interesting to watch but a little blank. I thought the characters were mere props to be filmed at it. The sex scenes/acts look like people testing how outrageous they can be sexually. Obviously the director loves filming sex scenes,but forgot to add a major ingredient; eroticism. Ma mere just tested my patience,i sat there bored, thinking my god what eurotrash. This just seemed liked scene after scene of shock factor stupidity,not taboo busting libertarianism, as the DVD synopsis pro claimed. In this day and age this film can hardly be seen as transgressive,just pretentious. What makes this worse apart from the crappy philosophy,is when director himself tries to convince us this eurotrash is credible,the guy is seriously laughing at us here. Plot aside the director does go out of his way to capture the vast landscapes and scenery,locations and sunlight; making the picture look stunning. Apart from that the film's just nonsense.