MOTHER! directed by Darren Aronofsky (USA, 2017)
Beware of films with exclamation marks in the title!
“Mother! is a movie designed to provoke fury, ecstasy, madness, and catharsis, and more than a little awe”. This verdict is from a review in Vox that Darren Aronofsky says ‘gets it’.
It culminates in an apocalyptic finale that works on the theory that nothing succeeds like excess. It is shocking in the sense of being shockingly awful.
If Aronofsky’s goal was to get under my skin he succeeded but, while I usually gain a perverse pleasure from mindfuck or body horror movies, this one left me cold and with feelings of distaste and repulsion. Continue reading
This movie begins with stock footage of 
Any doubt that religion is the prime target is dispelled by the closing sequences where we see a Christ-like figure leaving a sadistic orgy to the sound of tribal drumming and an image of a crucifix decorated with women’s scalps as jolly music plays. If ever there was a film that was made to be banned, then this is it. Salvador Dali and Buñuel could not realistically have expected official endorsement for the manner in which they show such wanton disrespect for bastions of the establishment and the catholic church in particular. It was made in 1930 and it was not until 1979 that it received formal premiere in the U.S. Better late than never.
Perhaps I should temporarily rename this blog ‘Buñuel My Soul’ as I’m currently immersed in the movie back catalogue of the great Spanish director.
There are plenty of films where women are badly treated by men but in this movie it is the man who is a victim of sorts and , like all the best farces, it has a tragic aspect.
