Ma Mère

Ma Mère vs Youporn (or any other of more than a 100 porn channels) looses 0 to 100. All other porn channels have 1. Steady cameras 2. Focused 3. MUCH prettier females 4. Apparently masculine males 5. MORE stimulating scenes 6. They are shorter 7. Last but not least, they have more interesting dialogues.

My rate is -273. Absolute zero.

If you like French existentialist movies (which in this case is also a perverse "coming of age" movie), this is one of the better ones; if not, don't bother. The first half is slow and cumbersome with the scenes more like vignettes to reveal the Son's naiveté, while the Mother remains inaccessible until the very end. While the second half remains cumbersome through choppy editing, it is more interesting with the introduction of Hansi and Loulou. Most people seem to get hung up over the Libertine attitudes portrayed through deviant sexual activities, but what I took away was the idea that the psyche of willing participants, and particularly the young or immature, can be damaged by any emotionally charged experience, be it sexual or religious. The struggle is to rise above it. The one scene of particular interest revealed the blurred distinctions between dominant and submissive personalities (Hansi & Loulou), with the Sadist revealed as a Masochist by the emotional damage they were inflicting on themselves through the physical damage inflicted on someone they cared about. The Sadist/Masochist roles are easily reversed as seen through Loulou's comment when he throws himself in the pool in the deleted scene.

I can enjoy sexy French movies as much as the next person. But this movie is simply gross, to the point of being almost comical. Its furthest excesses rival in bawdiness the kinds of high jinks you'd expect to see in a Farrelly Brothers movie, but without the jokes. Quite the opposite, this film is pretty dark. It could have been a brooding, beautifully shot, and deeply literary meditation on the tangled emotions, Freudian and otherwise, that run through families. Especially considering Isabelle Huppert, who I'd think I could enjoy watching do almost anything, maybe even eat a live horse or perform an emergency tracheotomy, her beauty and her abilities being so complex, limitless and profound. But I did have trouble watching her do the things she does here -- where the artfulness present in other parts of the movie is left behind and only absurdity remains. Perhaps I'm just a prude.

Despite having heard that this movie had some pretty controversial sexual content, I walked into the theater not expecting to be that shocked by anything I would see. Much to my surprise and pleasure, I found myself squirming uncomfortably along with the rest of the audience. Call me a masochist if you must. But this film is worth much more than just its shock value. The synthesis of the cinematography, music, and landscape was so beautiful and on point, I felt fortunate to discover myself months later often to be reflecting on it. The cast also gets highmarks, not just for their acting, but also their tre sexy bodies. Ma mere is a crazy movie, but by the time the creditss came on, I felt I had the post orgasm exhaustion for myself.

Ma mere definitely gets thumbs up. On a side note, I discovered the hard way that it makes a terrible first-date movie. I'd also suggest avoid seeing it with your family.

There are some that put this film in their Top Ten list for 2005, but I greatly hesitate to list it along with films such as 2046 and A History of Violence.

It is a women's film. By that, I do not mean you will see it on Lifetime, but it stars women who are in full control of their sexuality. It celebrates that sexuality like no film I have seen.

Christophe Honoré (Love Songs) adapted an unfinished Georges Bataille novel and directed this film starring Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher, The Bedroom Window, The School of Flesh, I Heart Huckabees) as a mother who has a child to raise after the untimely death of his father.

Pierre (Louis Garrel) has spent his time in a religious boarding school, so mom enlists the aid of her friends to expose his to her debauched lifestyle. Rea (Joana Preiss) and Hansi (Emma de Caunes - The Science of Sleep) do their best to erase all that religious training exposing him to not only regular sex, but some sadism as well.

The Elle Magazine fans who voted Louis Garrel one of their 15 Sexiest Men this year will not be disappointed at all at what they see. The rest, who are more interested in Isabell, Emma, and Joana will also be very pleased.

I am sure we all wish we had a mom like Hélène.