Ma Mère

Dir: Christophe Honoré

2005

*

French Existentialism. I seriously hate it. Based it on the controversial and posthumous 1966 novel of the same name by French author Georges Bataille, Ma Mère is not as clever or as artistic as it thinks it is. Georges Bataille's grubby novel has, by and large, been ripped to pieces by Christophe Honoré who totally misses the point or at least doesn't understand the hidden meaning lying within the narrative. The existential direction doesn't work at all in relation to the story and comes across as lazy, which I believe it is. There is being 'influenced by' and there is 'ripping off', Ma Mère sees Honoré 'ripping off' great directors such as Eric Rohmer and François Truffaut. I wonder if he thinks he's the modern equivalent? He most certainly isn't. Ma Mère makes for awkward and unpleasant viewing, especially when watched with one's parents. The story revolves around seventeen year old Pierre (played by Louis Garrel) who has just left a Catholic boarding school to live with his wealthy parents at their villa on the island of Gran Canaria. Pierre's father (played by Philipe Duclos) dies early in the movie, leaving his mother, Hélène (played by Isabelle Huppert) to care for him. Pierre soon learns, however, of the depraved nature of his parents. He first finds his father's pornography. His first reaction is to masturbate, then, angry with himself and disgusted at his father, he urinates on the magazines. It’s fairly depraved stuff and a matter of someone mistaking deviancy with art. It is unbelievably pretentious and actually rather dull, despite its great efforts to disgust and shock its audience. However, if you like the thought of your mum sticking a finger up your bottom and making you lick it when it has resurfaced or being forced to watch yourself having sex like a horse in a shopping centre, then this film is right up your street - I just hope you don't live down mine. The last scene is both the most disturbing and most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in a film. While Isabelle Huppert's character is complex and could only be performed by someone as talented as she is, it is also beneath her and something I would have thought she would have dismissed. The fact that no one talks about it and no one regards it as anything other than trash tells you all you need to know about Christophe Honoré's utterly unwanted adaptation. Avoid at all costs.