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Ma Mère (2004)
DIRECTOR: Christophe Honoré
CAST: Louis Garrel; Emma de Caunes; Joana Preiss; Jean-Baptiste Montagut; Philippe Duclos
SYNOPSIS
Pierre is a 17-year-old pious adolescence living with his grandmother. For his summer holidays he goes to join his parents in the Canary Islands, where he will be confronted with the conjugal escapades of a couple who are tearing each other apart and hating each other. Following the sudden death of his father, Pierre is initiated into perversion by Hélène, his mother whom he venerates, and in whom he sees a pure woman who has lived with a repugnant man. Pierre is nevertheless aware that his mother's life is one of debauchery in alcohol and sex.
His mother takes him along with her on her outings, and introduces him to Réa, a seductive young woman, her mistress. The young woman plunges Pierre into orgy and debauchery. He discovers an ecstasy of perdition in which anguish, shame, sexual pleasure, disgust and respect are mingled.
His mother prefers to distance herself. During her absence, Pierre finds love and a certain degree of equilibrium with Hansi, a young woman who has been close to his mother. But Hélène is soon back. Having touched the bottom of the abyss, she leads her son into the realisation of their incestuous fantasy, while kills herself. (from My mother Production Site)
NOTE
I first saw this film at New
York City's Film Comment Selects (February 18, 2005). With
much expectation, I ended up only being disappointed. FORUM
QUOTE
Isabelle Huppert
"Honore au Champ de Bataille", Liberation, January 21, 2004
"I didn't read Ma Mere. I remain my idea of doing the role"
a film for the addition, a woman in love with her child". (more)
Isabelle Huppert
Maman Cherie, What's on in London, March 5 2005
"The script was scarier than
the film. It
was more detailed and more explicit. Initially I said no, but
something dragged me into it, there was something I really
liked about it. I went back and forth several times, and I
talked to Christophe a
lot, and in the end I agreed because he gave me some kind of
reassurance about how he would shoot certain scenes."
Christophe Honoré
"Freres de Sang", from Préférence, March/April, 2004
Ce n’est pas possible de dire que quelqu’un comme Isabelle Huppert, qui débarque sur un plateau, n’arrive pas avec sa filmographie. Mais la force des grands acteurs, c’est de ne pas le faire sentir. Elle n’a jamais essayé d’imposer quoi que ce soit. Dans ce film-là, elle est étonnante : c’est complètement Isabelle Huppert mais elle réinvestit, par exemple, un territoire de sensualité qu’elle avait un peu délaissé. Elle est de plain-pied avec le personnage, et ne le met jamais en doute, à distance. Elle a cette force, qui lui vient peut-être plus de son récent travail au théâtre, de faire entendre un texte – et là celui de Bataille – et de ne pas chercher la psychologie du personnage. (read English Translation)
Paulo Branco
"La consommation des films est trop rapide", Liberation, April 21, 2004
Produire n'est pas plus difficile qu'il y a vingt ans, bien au contraire. Les sources de financement se sont multipliées. Mais ce que ces sources souhaitent irriguer n'est pas le cinéma que je fais. Elles demandent des comédies familiales, des grands films poujadistes... Elles imposent une dictature des chiffres. Les films "osés" sont plus en danger qu'autrefois. Pourtant, je fais les films que je veux, de plus en plus difficilement il est vrai. Pour prendre un exemple récent, je n'arrive pas à m'expliquer le refus unanime des financiers à investir sur Ma Mère de Christophe Honoré, d'après Georges Bataille, avec Isabelle Huppert. J'ai travaillé uniquement avec Canal + et une minuscule participation d'Arte. C'est un film dont je suis fier et qui a failli tomber à l'eau. Je ne peux m'en prendre qu'à Bataille, beaucoup trop audacieux pour nous! (read English Translation)
RADIO
FRANCE (05/22/2004)
Pour Catherine
Breillat, c'est un film de garçon mais c'est
filmé comme une fille, il y a trop de discours. Jean-Claude
Guiguet pense que le livre de Bataille dont
est tiré le film est un livre inadaptable, "c'est
toute la pensée de Bataille sur l'érotisme,
la débauche et Christophe Honoré a choisi
la haute mer pour traiter ce sujet". Gaël
Morel, lui, aime beaucoup: "Honoré dynamise
le sujet par des références d'aujourd'hui, Isabelle
Huppert incarne le cinéma français
et Louis Garrel est érotisé par
la caméra: film qui s'inscrit aujourd'hui dans une
vraie modernité. Philippe
Le Guay est dérangé par la morbidité du
film, l'ombre de Pasolini est omniprésente.
AWARD
- Taormina International Film Festival, June 14-22, 2004, Italy.
- The 26th Moscow International Film Festival, June 22-24, 2004
- Toronto International Film Festival - World Cinema, September 10-11, 2004
- Chicago Interneational Film Festival - October 19-21,2004
- Lindon International Film Festival - October 31, November 1, 2004
TRIVIA
Someone from Cannes' selection committee assured that film would be projected at Cannes, but backed out at the last minute because of the film's steamy, hard-core content. The producer Paolo Branco complains, which is unusal, with journalists, "The argument was that there were too many French films. But that is absurd because there are eith Amercian films." He also had a dig at supposed tensions between Fremaux and his predecessor and current prexy, Gilles Jacob. "I don't want to be the victim of an internal conflict between the president of the festival and the artistic director in a power game." It's said, Isabelle has also lobbied heavily for the film to get into Cannes. But the artistic director Thierry Fremaux vehemently denied producer Paolo Branco's claims, "we never said it would get a midnight screening because we never wanted the film." (from Variety, April 22, 2004, by Alison James, Staff)
REVIEW
Honoré au Champ de Bataille, Liberation, le 21 jan, 2004
Regarder "Ma Mère" en face, Topo N°7, le 2 mai 2004
C'est Ma Mère, son Bataille, Liberation, le 12 mai, 2004
Interview with Christopher Honoré, le film français, le 12 mais 2004
Scandalous Isabelle arrived Saturday for Ma Mere, La Sicilia, June 16, 2004
Isabelle Shock, La Gazzetta Del Mezzogiorno, June 18, 2004
Huppert, a scandale on purpose, Il Giornale, June 18, 2004
What a scandalous mother, La Nazione, June 18, 2004
Incestous Mother Isabelle Huppert "I do not try scandals", Corriere Della Sera, June 20, 2004
Isabelle Hupert defends Ma Mère,
Gazzatta del Sud, June 22, 2004
Universe of the Perverse, The Times (London), Feb. 17, 2005
Respected actor through such defiantly
scandalous roles, Guardian, 26 Feb. 2005
Isabelle Huppert: Mysterious? Moi, Independent on Sunday, 27 Feb. 2005
Maman Cherie, What's on London, March 5, 2005
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