Mia madre (2015)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Waste of time

Expected more

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

"Mia Madre" is the sort of picture you might see being made in Europe…but it's far from the sort of movie you'd expect from Hollywood. After all, a film about a middle-aged woman who is nearing an emotional collapse is not big box office. And, it's certainly not the sort of picture the target audience of 16-30 would rush to the theaters to see. However, if you are patient and give it a chance, you're bound to get a lot out of this Italian film from director Nanni Moretti (who also co-wrote and co-stars in the movie).When the story begins, Margherita (Margherita Bay) is having a very tough time in life. She's directing a movie, just separated from her husband and is dealing with her mother's impending death. To make things worse, the picture has an American star (John Turturro) who is having trouble delivering his lines in Italian…and Margherita is far from patient with the man. What follows is the progression of events in Margherita's life…and the feeling that sooner or later, she's going to snap. After all, to make all this even worse she's middle-aged…a time which is tough on all of us…and a time of change. I should know…I am at that time in my life as well! And, I guess this is why I could relate to Margherita and her story so well.While I wouldn't rush to the theaters to see a film like Mia Madre, it's perfect to see such a 'little' film at home on your television. It is not a sweeping saga and doesn't need the big screen treatment… which is great since the movie is new to Netflix this month. It also, incidentally, received a nearly eight minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival…so I am apparently not the only one who liked it and recommend you see it!

Mia Madre ("My Mum") is a typical Italian offering – a story that has no beginning and no end… but the bits in between are absolutely delightful and totally absorbing.Mia Madre is filled with unforgettable characters. At its heart is Margherita, (played by Margherita Buy), a middle-aged film director who has made any number of gritty Italian 'socially aware' movies in the style of a Ken Loach or Mile Leigh. She is now questioning whether her films really work and if they make any difference to an indifferent world.She is having problems with her latest effort, a film about a factory whose workers are on strike and is being taken over by a rich Italian/American. She has trouble with the production and camera crews and is having a nightmare with an Italian/American actor, Barry, brought in to play the new factory owner, and who continually forgets his lines.She has broken up with her partner and cannot relate to her teenage daughter. But the biggest problem is her mother, who is in hospital dying; but mum hasn't been told she is dying and wants to go home.It's enough to drag down most people in a mid-life crisis and it very nearly does for Margherita. There are some wonderful scenes between Margherita and her mother and with her ex-partner, and her brother, both of whom are distressed with Mum's condition.Then there is the interplay with her daughter who is being rebellious but is also emotionally affected by her Grandmother's condition.From time to time, Margherita has flashbacks of her mother in better times when she was a highly regarded lecturer at a university. She sadly speculates on what will happen to hundreds of books owned by her mother after she dies.Amidst all this, the film production stumbles on, and relations between Margherita and star actor Barry get worse and worse, with Barry 'blowing up' on set and later Margherita telling him just what she thinks of him in words that leave little to the imagination.She has a heart-to-heart with her ex-partner and she becomes distraught by the realisation that she has been cold and unfeeling to her ex-partner and also to her family, friends and work colleagues – in fact to everyone.It's a wonderful mishmash of emotions and strong personalities, and the great acting brings these characters alive and makes you want to know what happens. As I said, it doesn't really have any ending, but it does have closure of sorts, and the film will leave you feeling quite satisfied, as good Italian films always do.Mia Madre won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at last year's Cannes Film Festival, and at a running time of 1 hour 45 minutes, it will uplift your spirits and give you much food for thought.

In My Mother director Nanni Moretti examines three generations of women as they attempt to find their identities and make their lives. The title emphasizes the grandmother, as her heart weakens and she loses hold on her mind and body. Her teaching Latin stressed the discipline of structure — in a sentence, hence in life — but she also knew when to cut loose and dance with her students. One remembers that she taught them life as well as Latin. In another Latin lesson, she urges a nuanced sensitivity to verbs. Nouns are easy enough, the given, but what counts is what we do, the verbs, the actions that we choose to define us and our lives. Her granddaughter is a teenager just adopting the Latin discipline. She is already negotiating her relationships with her divorced parents. When she gets her scooter she learns that riding it requires care but also a loosening up and a leaning in. It's an emblem of the balance she needs to move along in life — as granny balanced discipline with dance. For want of that discipline, the girl's school term was ruined by a heartbreaking love. The central character is the girl's mother, Margherita, a film director trying to make a labour drama while dealing with her mother's decay and death. An ex-lover actor says that she's too insensitive to others and too willful to get along. Her problem lies in the instruction she gives her actors: "Play the actor as well as the role." The actors don't understand that and she admits she doesn't either. A director normally asks a director for total immersion in the character. But in her life Margherita lives detached from others. That's why her two relationships ended, why she didn't know about her daughter's heartbreak, why she only now learns what values and esteem her mother commanded. In contrast to these three strong women are two weak men. John Turturro plays the comic butt, an American actor whose ego dwarfs his abilities and record. As he struggles with the language and the lines he's a caricature of playing the actor instead of the role. Director Moratti himself plays Margherita's brother, embodying the ineffectuality usually ascribed to the women in a male-cantered drama. The devoted son takes a leave of absence from his job, then quits it altogether, despite being warned how hard it will be for a man his age to find another. Driven to fulfil the noun, devoted son, he withdraws from the constructive and responsible verbs or actions, leaving himself helpless. The last word of the film is Margherita's memory of her mother saying "Tomorrow," when asked what she's thinking. Her daughter and granddaughter have learned from her how to face the future. Her son backed away.

Nanni Moretti is an accomplished filmmaker who won many awards as an actor, writer, director, producer across Europe for 4 decades, and a few in South America. He is a Cannes Film Festival favourite and won the 2015 Prize of the Ecumenical Jury with this fine film "Mia Madre" (aka My Mother) who was inspired partly by the recent death of his mother.It was thus with immense pleasure that I was able to attend his TIFF first screening in his presence with an interpreter (even though his command of English is quite good especially understanding) and hear first hand a few details from the master.First in terms of prizes, his 2001 film "La stanza del figlio" (aka The Son's Room) seems to be a contender for his masterpiece yet even though it is an extraordinary film, I can think of other films who dealt with the subject of losing a child much better, namely two in the same year with riveting "In the Bedroom" and even better Australian "Lantana", and later "Rabbit Hole (2010)" with Australian actress Nicole Kidman.For "Mia Madre", we explore the dying and death of a parent but this time, this movie sets itself apart. It is dark and light with humour, showing scenes with conflicted and strong characters with multiple layers, exploring emotional and intellectual depth. It weaves between multiple layers of reality and meta-reality, time, thoughts, dreams, desires. It goes beyond death, before, in between... It is beautiful!Moretti speaks of his inability to tell his actors to "be besides the character" (as opposed to being completely immersed in them) although that is what he would like to tell them. He feels too many acting awards go to people who become characters and lose themselves. He also mentions that he is closer to the distraught Margherita character (played by marvellous Margherita Buy who is a accomplished actress to say the least) than to the brother he plays in the film and wishes he had a better handle of the dying mother situation in real life. These small details show a level of maturity and complexity of thought with a crisp vision and appreciation. A non-assuming but assured wisdom can be felt from the man and the magnus opus I just saw.Margherita's character is a director like Moretti so the piece is self-reflective in many ways and involves an interplay of many realities, possibilities and problems to deal with at the same time. Then he brings John Turturro to play the role of Barry Huggins who is a now barely able to remember a line actor of old fame and prestige with a sharp tongue and Hollywood arrogance. This creates some comic relief and hilarious scenes but also serve to contrast the work problems with the life problems and the miscommunication and misunderstanding of everyone.The movie is a dream of sort, but a vivid one. Moretti's life distress gave us his Pièce de résistance.Thank you for sharing. Thank you for caring.Italy / France 2015 | 106 mins | Toronto International Film Festival | Italian (English subtitles) + some English