The Mother (2004)

The Mother is a harsh, severe film about relationship and families. The characters are not physically abusive but mentally with children who simply do not care or are just distant from their parents.The emptiness of the parent-child relationship is there to see from the beginning as we see Peter Vaughan and Anne Reid travelling on the train to London to see their selfish son and equally selfish daughter.Reid soon becomes a widow and lives with her children for a while and starts an affair with his son's friend and builder (Daniel Craig) who also happens to be married as well as having an affair himself with Reids's daughter.Reid who raised her children, had a job and was almost dutiful to her husband is emotionally re-awakened by her affair with the youthful and physical Craig and this is depicted by her etchings. Contrast this when her daughter tries to set her up with an older man for which she has no emotional connection.The film does not entirely explain why Craig beds Reid, or why the children are so selfish and even bitter. The ending leaves a visceral punch to the gut. Almost all the characters are unlikable but at least Reid makes a journey of discovery and decides she does not want to waste away in her former marital home.The film is uneven, its a glorified television film but writer Hanif Kureshi, despite a few sex scenes handles the themes in a more sensitive and subtle manner than his earlier works.

This is a great movie if you hate people.... I loved it. This well crafted piece succeeds in delivering a fairly original film that is utterly compelling and completely engrossing... and, yet, there isn't a character in this film that is remotely likable. I mean, the family portrayed in this film put the "func" in "dysfunctional." Actually, they put the "dysfunctional" in "dysfunctional." Imagine your recently widowed, senior citizen mother, who you can't stand, coming to stay with you.... and then carries on a very May-December romance with the builder working on your home! Well, not really a romance per se... no more like doing the big-time nasty-nasty whenever the opportunity arises. Oh yeah - and the builder boinking Mom is also boinking her thoroughly unpleasant daughter. Just when you think it couldn't get much more insane, the bitter, sour children find out about Mother's little (ahem!) affair via her sketchbook, which Mommy has been filling in with very crude, very explicit drawings of her builder and herself in various illicit sex acts - including one really crude piece boldly portraying her performing oral sex on the brawny builder. And you thought your mother was bad! Anne Reid, who portrays the mother, deserved some kind of award... when do you see a woman over 50 on screen, naked and engaging in very (I mean VERY) explicit sex scenes. I say good for her. If you went by mainstream media you'd never know that anyone over 50 ever has sex... unless it's in the context of a Viagra ad that reduces older people having sex as something humorous - something to be giggled at. Trust me, when you see Mother and young builder get it on, nobody will giggle.

In what has to rank as one of the mainstream cinema's most daunting pieces of subject matter, this BBC produced film explores the sexual relationship between a 60-something woman and a handyman 30 years her junior. Reid plays a grandmother (pushing 70!) whose feeble husband has managed to keep her tied to him and mostly subservient to him throughout their marriage (mostly due to the times, more than from a deliberate cruelty on his part.) While visiting their upwardly mobile and emotionally distant son in London (and also their daughter, who lives in the same vicinity), the husband (Vaughn) dies abruptly. Faced with a life of sitting in a chair watching the telly, Reid decides to return to London and reconnect with her children and grandchildren, who barely know her. Her extraordinarily neurotic and selfish daughter (Bradshaw) is carrying on an affair with the same handyman (Craig) who is building a conservatory onto the son's townhouse and asks Reid for advice about how to handle him. As Reid begins to strike up an acquaintance with Craig, she begins to find him appealing to herself and starts to unlock a lot of pent up feelings regarding her long lost sexuality and feelings of intimacy. Craig, who appreciates Reid's kind manner and thoughtful intellect, becomes drawn to her as well, causing plenty of drama and turmoil in an already unstable family. What could have been the world's most tawdry and tasteless film is saved by the deeply committed performance of Reid in the title role. She is given plenty of time to paint her character before the more sensationalistic scenes take place. It's a bit of a commentary on society that there's any discomfort at all in seeing a woman in her late 60's go to bed with a man far younger when when do the same thing quite frequently, but the disparity exists nonetheless. The scenes here are handled about as well as they could be in presenting the passion and sexuality of the situation without becoming too explicit. Craig does a very nice job here as well (displaying a much skinnier and less tantalizing body that he would later present in "Casino Royale"), but his character does seem to pendulum a lot with little or no explanation. He and Reid establish a nice chemistry between them in the scenes prior to their sexual liaisons. Other performances are strong, if not always appealing. Davies appears as a suitor more close to Reid's age and is alternately pleasant and repellent. The pace of the film is sure to test the patience of some viewers as it takes its time to build the story and includes a lot of quiet, dreamy scenes. London has rarely been presented this sunnily (the director also did "Notting Hill") which makes for a nice contrast to the sometimes downbeat goings-on. The film was shot using only natural or ambient light which may be why the director shot during so many sunny periods versus the stereotypical cloudy ones. It's a challenging work, but not without rewards. Just as in 1955's "All That Heaven Allows", a widow with two snotty children, who long for her to stay at home with the TV, creates a stir when she begins seeing a younger laborer with whom she's established an emotional connection. Now, of course, it's been ratcheted up with sexuality and the angle of the man being the daughter's lover as well, but the story thrust is pretty much the same.

"The Mother" is a weird low-budget movie, touching at least two uncomfortable themes not usually explored in the cinema: denial of love of mother for their own son and daughter, and lust and passion in the third age.The characters are awful: May is a disgusting old lady and I believe it is impossible to feel any kind of sympathy or sorrow for her. She confesses that she did not love her son and her daughter. She cheated her husband twice with an intellectual. She steals the beloved man of her daughter, not to protect her from a guy without moral, that does not love her, but just because she feel horny with him. She is trying to organize her life after the loss of her husband in the worst possible way, destroying her daughter delusions. Paula, her daughter, is a fragile loser, who accepts her life the way it is. Her brother Bobby is a man who lost his savings because of his wife, who insists in having her shop, a terrible business indeed. Darren is an amoral addicted jerk who does not like anybody, even himself.The acting and direction are excellent: the actresses and actors have outstanding performances and the direction is very precise. I liked this movie, but I recognize that it is recommended for very specific audiences. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Recomeçar" ("Re-Start")