Review of Ma Mere

Introduction

It`s all about incest. This 110 minute art-porn Euromovie is an ode to Oedipus that twisted knickers across Europe and the US when the movie was released last year. Based on the novel by Georges Bataille, written and directed by Christophe Honore, the movie is uncomfortably graphic, earning the strongest ratings in all territories.

It`s one of those intellectual movies that makes you feel dirty after you`ve watched it. I`ve only seen it once and I want to go and have a shower it`s that uncompromisingly nasty. Full of ugly people doing ugly things and having extremely ugly sex (the way only the French can), it`s... it`s...

Yuk.

There`s a deep philosophical thread running through the piece, a typical bit of Gallic navel-gazing that gives the movie at least a sense of artistic credibility, but to be honest I think it takes more than that to make a proper philosophical argument out of something that looks like the work of a wannabe John Waters (without the sense of humour).

I`m sure some cineaste might want to take me to task about the deep meaning of the movie and its incandescent appreciation of the human condition, but I`m afraid I don`t see it or buy it. It`s an ugly, unedifying thing and that`s not what I look for in a movie.

Video

Presented in anamorphic widescreen 1.85:1, the movie lacks any of the cinematic graces one would expect from the Hollywood product. The sunny locations lend some of the material a pleasant glamour, but for every bright, colourful scene there`s some squalid shot of an idiot sunbathing in the raw with his pierced widget full in your face.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0, and it`s only in French with forced English subtitles.

Features

None whatsoever.

Conclusion

Call me a philistine, but movies with pretentions of art leave me dead cold. And this movie is more pretentious than a roomful of Brian Sewells. French cinema is, at best, an acquired taste and I think this movie would test the stomach of the most ardent cineaste. Maybe we can con somebody into reviewing French movies like we did the wrestling DVDs...