Mommy Reflection

Mommy

Imbd 8.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes 89%

51% Like

Madelon’s Rate: 9.7/10 (97%)

Themes: Mental Illness, Oedipus Complex, Recovery, Forgiveness

French director and producer, Xavier Dolan, creates an astounding look into the complicated lives of a widowed mother and violent, mentally troubled son. Dolan’s cinematic creation was not only a narrative thriller, but also a cinematic journey as he played with the realm of video framing. The square-size proportions of the movie allowed for a unique look, as the audience notices the almost-consistent square frame shift to a wide frame in the important scenes of the film. This film got me researching filming proportions so what I found was… Typical movies are screened and shot in a 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 aspect ratio, BUT in this film, Dolan boldly experimented with a 1:1, or square, ratio. Dolan explains that this made the film more difficult to film, the shots were tight, and filming all three subjects at once could be challenging, but because of this, Dolan was able to draw attention to the scenes in the movie in which all the subjects are present, as well as drawing attention to the three shifts in proportions during the film. "People have been trying to intellectualize the heck out of this," Dolan explains. "I just wanted to shoot portrait aspect ratio that would allow me to be very close to characters, avoid distractions to the left and right of the frame and have the audience look the characters right in the eye."1 But really Dolan.. how are we as media and film students not supposed to “intellectualize the heck” out of it?!

Beyond the filming and aspect ratio, the storyline, plot, and narrative were so well constructed and acted out. I was fully mesmerized by the film. You are sucked into the mental health issues of a young boy, you feel the pain of a single mother, you feel hope in the companionship of a teacher and friend, you feel all the emotions that come with these things in the film. The film entitled just ‘Mommy’ was already a trigger for me, having lost my mother a couple years back. But instead of becoming something unbearable to sit through, the film became, for me, something of a representation of my own experience, through Steve’s longing for a mother he desperately wanted. I understood the mental health issues that came with the loss or detachment of a mother, and how that can lead to the unfortunate and sad ending as it did with Steve. Overall, the movie was so well put together to watch, analyze, and relate to, and was easily one of my favorite films we viewed this semester.

1 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/why-xavier-dolans-mommy-was-756857