Mia madre (2015) User Reviews

all that you can leave behind

[Iwould · 8/10 · 20 April 2015]

Nanni Moretti may not be everybody's cup of tea, but his relevance cannot be denied. Very few artists has been so constantly present, so honestly faithful to themselves, and at the same time so careful in portraying the evolution of Italian society in the last decades. You put together the twelve movies Moretti has done in his forty years of activity and you get a perfect course in history of this country. It is not strange, then, that his latest movie looks like an attempt to portray confusion and uncertainty. As almost always, the story is based on personal experience from Moretti. In the past he has made movies about growing up and getting older (Caro Diario), movies about having a son (Aprile), and now he is sharing with the audience his reflections about the recent loss of his mother, frequently mentioned – and, once, even featured – in his works.

The story is about a director trying to complete a movie set in the contemporary scenario of economic crisis, focused on the loss of jobs in an Italian factory after the purchase of the compound from a USA investor. But the director cannot concentrate on the movie, as her old mother is dying in a hospital. There is a big difference between the main story (the death of the mother), which is told in a solemn and painfully slow way, and the story in the story (the script of the director's movie), whose lines and situations are formulaic, simple to the edge of stupidity ("Shit", as John Turturro says honestly in a moment of rage). Losing your mother is something that everybody's know is coming, sooner or later, but this doesn't mean you can be prepared: and in front of this terribly huge moment, everything else seems silly and preposterous.

The overall acting effort is really something to appreciate: Margherita Buy provides a complex, troubled counterpart for Moretti, who has limited himself to a supporting – yet important – role. John Turturro is the bright spot of the story: most of the situations where he is involved are really funny (neurotic Turturro and anxious Margherita Buy are a comedy duo with potential). Giulia Lazzarini portrays the sick mother, her energies slowly fading, with sensibility and measure: a really moving performance. She is by far the emotional centerpiece of the whole movie: in a story where everybody else seems willing to quit everything (relationships, day jobs, movie careers) for lack of meaning, the frail and weakened character of the mother, still willing to teach Latin to his niece until her very last moment and breath, actually teaches through the deep relationships she has with her family, and even with her former students, the surprising strength of human boundaries and love.

A roller-coaster of feelings

[febfourth · 8/10 · 1 October 2015]

Nanni Moretti has come a long way portraying Italy - mixing the inner, often neurotic, workings of a person with the harsh clash of Reality. In this movie, reality itself is the world of fiction: Margherita Buy plays the director of a movie about the working crisis that has been tearing apart Italy's employment situation for years now. The set is a stressful environment which recalls the one described by Truffaut's "Day for Night" and adds to the emotional exhaustion of the director Buy, facing her mother's illness. Whereas "The Son's Room" found its characters coming to terms with loss as a matter of fact, this movie rather deals with the whole painful process that leads to loss: the slow steps that lead to the acknowledgement of what is inevitable. The soul-wrenching hospital scenes and the numerous flashbacks from Buy's family memories are cleverly (and thankfully) counterbalanced with the comedic, hilarious traits of John Turturro, the main star or better even, a proper "diva", in Buy's (and subsequently, Moretti's) movie. You'll found yourself cracking up with laughter while that small tear on your cheek hasn't dried yet, and both moments are filmed in a superb way. Nanni Moretti himself plays a role as Margherita Buy's brother: both actors have a similar style and it's great to finally see them working together. They both speak in an extremely calm manner, as if they were trying to explain some really obvious truth to the viewers and to other characters; both have a history of playing awkward, sometimes neurotic, fragile people who will eventually burst out, only to quickly apologize in their usual calm and polite manner. Those who are familiar with Moretti's work will recognize some of his motifs: Rome settings, loud singing in cars, deadpan statements on the inability to work in a relationship, parental confrontations. Overall a very good movie that fits well in Moretti's recent history.

Moretti's Magnum Opus

[christian94 · 8/10 · 20 September 2015]

Nanni Moretti is an accomplished filmmaker who won many awards as an actor, writer, director, producer across Europe for 4 decades, and a few in South America. He is a Cannes Film Festival favourite and won the 2015 Prize of the Ecumenical Jury with this fine film "Mia Madre" (aka My Mother) who was inspired partly by the recent death of his mother.

It was thus with immense pleasure that I was able to attend his TIFF first screening in his presence with an interpreter (even though his command of English is quite good especially understanding) and hear first hand a few details from the master.

First in terms of prizes, his 2001 film "La stanza del figlio" (aka The Son's Room) seems to be a contender for his masterpiece yet even though it is an extraordinary film, I can think of other films who dealt with the subject of losing a child much better, namely two in the same year with riveting "In the Bedroom" and even better Australian "Lantana", and later "Rabbit Hole (2010)" with Australian actress Nicole Kidman.

For "Mia Madre", we explore the dying and death of a parent but this time, this movie sets itself apart. It is dark and light with humour, showing scenes with conflicted and strong characters with multiple layers, exploring emotional and intellectual depth. It weaves between multiple layers of reality and meta-reality, time, thoughts, dreams, desires. It goes beyond death, before, in between... It is beautiful!

Moretti speaks of his inability to tell his actors to "be besides the character" (as opposed to being completely immersed in them) although that is what he would like to tell them. He feels too many acting awards go to people who become characters and lose themselves. He also mentions that he is closer to the distraught Margherita character (played by marvellous Margherita Buy who is a accomplished actress to say the least) than to the brother he plays in the film and wishes he had a better handle of the dying mother situation in real life. These small details show a level of maturity and complexity of thought with a crisp vision and appreciation. A non-assuming but assured wisdom can be felt from the man and the magnus opus I just saw.

Margherita's character is a director like Moretti so the piece is self-reflective in many ways and involves an interplay of many realities, possibilities and problems to deal with at the same time. Then he brings John Turturro to play the role of Barry Huggins who is a now barely able to remember a line actor of old fame and prestige with a sharp tongue and Hollywood arrogance. This creates some comic relief and hilarious scenes but also serve to contrast the work problems with the life problems and the miscommunication and misunderstanding of everyone.

The movie is a dream of sort, but a vivid one. Moretti's life distress gave us his Pièce de résistance.

Thank you for sharing. Thank you for caring.

Italy / France 2015 | 106 mins | Toronto International Film Festival | Italian (English subtitles) + some English

for audiences willing to vicariously experience a slow and dense melodrama about loss.

[CineMuseFilms · 7/10 · 19 May 2016]

Melodrama is low in the genre pecking order because of its emotional exaggerations and use of stereotyped characters, most of whom are women. In this sense, Mia Madre (2016) is a purely melodramatic exploration of emotions associated with the dying of a parent as seen through the eyes of a loving daughter. This would be unoriginal on its own, so the film weaves multiple relationships into the narrative, all of which are stressed to breaking point, with a few comedic touches to make the story bearable. This matrix of emotional turbulence is standard fare in the dying parent narrative, but Mia Madre has a fine sense of balance in blending laughter and tears.

Margherita is a single-minded Italian director trying to complete a film when she learns that her mother Ada is dying. She is also dealing with a failed marriage, a teenage daughter who needs mothering, and the need to visit Ada every day. Her brother quits his job to care for Ada but Margherita tries to keep her world intact. As a perfectionist, she is demanding on the set where filming is not going well because the leading man is hopeless. Her film is about an economic downturn, a failing factory and workers facing bleak times, sub-plot lines that mirror her own fractured life. It is a moving study of how a professional woman accustomed to being in control must deal with helplessness in the face of impending tragedy. It could easily have been self- indulgent except for the almost unnerving grace and dignity with which Ada deals with dying while those around her become increasingly frayed. Audience response will depend to a large extent on their empathy for, or experience of, these stages in the life journey.

In many respects the mother is the star of this film. While hers is the less demanding acting role, she is a portrait of what many of us want to imagine as the peaceful exit of a beloved parent. Margherita on the other hand traverses an emotional roller-coaster on which the shock of what is happening forces her to review the meaning of her life. The camera often dwells too long on moments of introspection but the performances of both principals are finely nuanced, emotionally rich and entirely believable. There are many reasons to praise this film, but in the main it is for audiences willing to vicariously experience a slow and dense melodrama about loss.

All about his mother

[rubenm · 7/10 · 10 January 2016]

Fifteen years after having made an acclaimed film about losing a child, Nanni Moretti now tackles the subject of losing a parent. 'Mia Madre' is a thinly veiled autobiographical film: Moretti's mother died while he was making his previous film, the comedy 'Habemus Papam'. To emphasize how strongly 'Mia Madre' is based on real events, the lead character in the film is a director, and the name of the mother (Ada) is very similar to Moretti's own mother's name (Agata).

There are differences too. The director is a woman, not a man, and she is directing a serious social drama, not a comedy. While she has to give all her attention to the whimsical star of her drama, an American actor played by John Turturro, she has trouble accepting the truth of her mother's deteriorating health. Her mother simply cannot die now, she tells the doctor who breaks the sad news, because she still has so many things to do.

Moretti has done a perfect job in showing how the death of a mother makes you go through an emotional roller-coaster. Margherita, the lead character, seems to be able to cope with a lot, including her lead actor making a mess of his role, but she breaks down when she wakes up at night to find her apartment flooded. It's only after such a calamity that Margherita is able to grieve. Actress Margherita Buy gives a very touching and subtle performance as the caring daughter on the one hand and determined director on the other hand.

Turturro's role as the self-indulgent but incapable actor gives the film some comic relief, a welcome change from the emotional scenes dealing with the dying mother. Also, Moretti has inserted quite a few scenes which seem to divert from reality: sometimes you realize after a while that you're watching a dream-like scene that not really happened, but gives you some insight in what Margherita thinks or feels.

'Mia Madre' is a film about strong emotions, but it never aims at cheap tear jerking effects. Moretti perfectly knows how to deal with death.

Brilliant film. Try not to miss it!

[Red-125 · 10/10 · 13 March 2017]

The Italian movie Mia Madre (2015) was shown in the U.S. with its original title. It was co-written and directed by Nanni Moretti. It stars Margherita Buy as movie director Margherita. Margherita is directing a film in which noted U.S. actor Barry Huggins (John Turturro) is the protagonist. Margherita's mother Ada is portrayed by Giulia Lazzarina. Director Moretti has cast himself in the supporting role of Giovanni, Margherita's brother.

Margherita has problems that come from many directions. Her mother is dying--that's really the crux of the plot. She and her brother do their best for her, but it's a slow, downhill battle.

Margherita breaks up with a long-time lover, her daughter from her marriage is having trouble in school, and Barry Huggins is a self-centered jerk. Huggins is a star, and he acts like one. (In the movie, he speaks Italian well, which may be true in real life as well.) I got the sense in the movie that he was a celebrity, but not as great a celebrity as he would like to be. In any event, he is making Margherita's life miserable.

Margherita can't just drop everything to be with her mother. She has a film to direct, and it's not going well. She's in an impossible bind.

Director Moretti gave himself an important supporting role. In fact, the one fault I found with Mia Madre was that Moretti has a long scene with his boss that makes no sense in the context of the film. However, that small self-indulgence is negligible compared to all the great moments Moretti gives us.

Turturro is brilliant. His job is to make everyone--including the audience--dislike him. He does that wonderfully. Margherita Buy is an absolutely brilliant actor. Her emotions are at the surface, and her face portrays each emotion with unbelievable precision. She is the Italian Meryl Streep . (Or Meryl Streep is the American Margherita Buy.) Even if this weren't a great movie, it would be worth seeing just to watch Margherita Buy act. However, it truly is a great movie, and I highly recommend it.

This is one of the rare films that shows three generations of women, all of whom are strong and intelligent. That's another reason to watch Mia Madre.

We saw this film at the acclaimed Dryden Theatre in the George Eastman Museum in Rochester. I don't know if it will go into general release. It's certainly worth seeking out. (Every movie is better seen on the large screen than the small screen, but Mia Madre will work well on a small screen.)

For reasons I don't understand, Mia Madre has a modest 6.9 IMDb rating. This is one of those situations where I say, "Did those people see the same movie I saw?" Find it, watch it, and then judge for yourself.

A director under pressure personally and professionally

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 13 September 2018]

A film director (Margherita Buy), in the middle of trying to do a film, has to deal with the fact that her mother is dying.

The film is inspired by the death of Nani Moretti's own mother, and we can assume that the Buy character represents him, as a movie director dealing with a difficult production, a temperamental and looney actor (John Turturro), and a terminally-ill mother she keeps telling herself is going to recover.

Anyone who has been through this life-goes-on in the face of tragedy scenario will relate to the director trying to deal with her ex-husband, her daughter, her boyfriend, her mother, and the movie - all at the same time. It's a very human story. Unfortunately you can't pick when a crisis will occur, or expect them to come one at a time.

Wonderful acting, especially Buy as her character, Margherita, tries to keep it all together as her leading man, an American who knows Italian, can't remember his lines, the extras all look like movie stars when she asked for normal everyday people, all the while visiting her mother at the hospital and being in denial about her illness.

Very good film.

a movie about reality

[pietromarcello · 9/10 · 18 April 2015]

Moretti tells a heart-wrenching story without using overly dramatic tones, and builds around it other story lines, which all share the theme of people coming to terms with reality. The main storyline is really moving and real, and I could totally relate to it - what I like about this film is that it is autobiographical, but you do not need to be a world-famous film director to relate to it. Through Margherita, Moretti at times will fearlessly show you the everyday routine details of both his professional and personal life, totally demystifying his world-famous-film-director persona. I really liked Margherita Buy's acting; John Turturro has a very difficult role to play, because he must continually switch between acting and meta-acting, also switching between English and Italian, but he pulls it off nicely. The last 10 seconds of this movie are the perfect ending.

Moving family drama with a film-within-a-film

[paul-allaer · 6/10 · 9 October 2016]

"Mia Madre" (2015 release from Italy; 107 min.; US title "My Mother") brings the story of Margherita (played by Margherita Buy). As the movie opens, we are in the mid of a film shoot, with Margherita as the movie's director. After the day's shoot, she visits her ailing mom (played by Giulia Lazzarini), who was recently hospitalized. Meanwhile Margherita also has to deal with her own issues, including the fact that she doesn't see any future in the relationship with her boyfriend Vittorio. Fortunately she get some help from her brother Giovanni (played by Nanni Moretti). But life becomes yet more complicated when Barry (played by John Turturro) arrives on the set of the film. To tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this movie is directed, co-written and co-produced by Nanni Moretti (who also plays one of the major roles). This is really two films within one: there is the family drama of how a brother and sister are coping with an ailing and hospitalized mother, and then there is the making of the 'social realist' film about a factory that may be cutting one-third of its labor force. It's not clear to me why Moretti choose to combine two two elements into one movie, as they are pretty much existing independently from each other, safe for one aspect: Margherita. That said, the acting performances are tops throughout the movie, perhaps none more so than Giulia Lazzarini as the ailing mother. Also note that John Torturro speaks mostly Italian in this role (I can only assume he already spoke Italian before this movie).

"Mia Madre" premiered at the 2015 Cannes film festival, where it won one of the major prize. Out of the blue and without any fanfare or advertising, "Mia Madre" showed up at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend. Why it's taken almost 18 months to get a release, I have no idea but better late than never I suppose. The Sunday matinée screening where I saw this at was attended poorly and I can't imagine this will play for more than a week. If you are in the mood for a quality foreign family drama with a lot of great acting performances, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in theaters, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray.

Insightful yet hilarious

[paul2001sw-1 · 9/10 · 14 February 2018]

Director Nanni Moretti often stars in his own movies, frequently playing what seems to be only a thinly fictionalised version of himself. In 'Mia Madre', however, he has two alter egos, as he plays the brother of a film director, the excellent Marghertia Buy, who's busy with work, even as their mother is dying. The film is both a sensistive portrait of how we deal with terminal illness, and a revealing, and often hilarious, look at the business of film-making. John Turturro is the difficult American star of the film-within-a-film; the humour lies in Buy's reactions to his outrageous behaviour. I quite like most of Moretti's movies; but I think this one is my favourite.

Personal work

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 27 June 2016]

When your personal life affects your working abilities, it is never good for anybody. But there are things that you cannot influence (some may call them Destiny). When people close to you (and your mother would count into that group for a majority of people), are about to leave your life, there is going to be a lot of emotion involved.

Take that to work, where a star may or may not be right about being upset about things and you start clashing, getting frustrated over time and lose focus overall. Superbly acted by all those involved, this is dense and slow paced and surely not for everyone to "enjoy" (if that is the right word to use). But there is a lot things that you can take away here. One of them: Pain is all around us and we have to work with it and even if we're not able to accept it, still be able to move on

Multiple challenges

[guisreis · 7/10 · 16 December 2021]

An Italian movie director is shooting a film about labor movement with an unwieldy celebrity from Hollywood, but there is something more serious than that, or than the end of her marriage, that is disturbing her: her mother is ill and going to die. The film has quite good moments (either sad, smart of funny), Margherita Buy is perfect in her tough leading role, and all technical elements go very well. However, I think the film would be more engaging and moving if it were a little shorter and the script were tighter.

6/10

[Giacomo_De_Bello · 6/10 · 21 April 2015]

Quick disclaimer before getting into the review: despite being Italian I have absolutely zero familiarity with the work of Nanni Moretti, this was the first of his films I saw and my judgment is based solely on the movie itself, I don't know anything about Moretti's style, his filmography nor the types of movie he makes.

So, to the movie. "Mia Madre" is best defined by myself as a nice movie. I know it sounds cheap, but that is what I really thought of it. It has many problems, that when added up surprisingly leave you with a movie that is much better than you expected while watching it. This is thanks to a very human story, that, as every element in the film has its flaws, but ultimately succeeds because of its intimacy to every human being. I really find it hard to describe why this film worked, mainly because I myself have yet to understand why having many reservations about it, but it simply was engaging and never ever boring, it struck an emotional chord and touched something. Absolutely brilliant is Giulia Lazzarini and probably the main reason for which the film succeeds, and her moments with Beatrice Mancini were no doubt the most engaging parts to watch. Practically, on the positive side I just can say that there there is some very under toned filmaking going on behind the camera that works pretty well, it left me with a pleasant experience despite the fact that time and time again I found something wrong with movie.

On the point I have some very big negatives to get out. Firstly, Margherita Buy is slightly uneven in her performance, it's not a bad one, just an underwhelming one. Now, as I said before I have no familiarity with Nanni Moretti, but I hope this is not the way he always acts because it was pretty bad. He may be a good director/writer, but as an actor he didn't quite work here and that may e due to the fact that his character is pretty bland. Some other minor negatives before I get to the big ones: photography isn't exactly the best, I really do believe that with a better cinematography this film could have been miles ahead. Editing too isn't really solid, but it never reaches the level of being sloppy. But, the biggest reservation I had was just how much this filmed copied, yes copied not borrowed, from Fellini's 8 1/2 and to an extent even to Sorrentino's "La Grande Bellezza". There were scenes where I felt like I was watching those movies, not a new one. The music choice, the editing style, the tone, the content, everything seemed to be taken out from them, stirred a bit and then put back in. The thing is, they do it pretty shamelessly too, they even put a scene that is screaming "La Dolce Vita". Some of the borrowed pieces of these films work, but when added to the entire movie they just stick out. All of the negative elements above essentially lead to an uneven film, way too many times a scene passes under your head or you question why you are watching it.

Thankfully all of those negatives don't add up in the final product, looked as a whole, not scene by scene, to a simply pleasant journey, I had a good time with the film, but I am very angry at some of the things it did.

On a totally silly side note: that poster is probably the worst poster I have ever seen. Doesn't make someone want to watch the film at all!

I loved it...

[bavan-11147 · 10/10 · 6 January 2016]

First of all, I'm a French speaking Indian living in France and I'm very passionate about cinema, I'm saying because I don't understand any Italian word in this film. I've just followed the film with the subtitles and I was speechless. The theme of the movie is something very unique and not everyone could held the megaphone easily other than Moretti. I liked very much the story, the screenplay, the lighting, the DOP, the cuts and everything... I liked so much the performance of The mother, the daughter and the son, the grand daughter, the actor. They were fabulous in each scene. They don't act but they react for the situation and so the film was very much realistic.

I would recommend this film for everybody! :) happy to see a good movie like this...

Why?

[MovieIQTest · 15 June 2021]

Why this film got so many high praises? Were we watching the same film, or we just mixed up? To us, me and my wife, both thought it's one of the worst European movies we ever watched. It's so boring from the very beginning till when we both suddenly said: "I can't watch it for another minute!" at the same moment. What's the purpose of this loosely patched, going-nowhere film? Mother was dying, yeah, so what? The daughter had a tough marriage life and a difficult directing movie by hiring a half crazy American Italian to jiggle and mess up her work. The dialog was so boring, the storyline...did it ever exist?

We like Ms. Buy so much in her "A Five Star Life" that lured us to seek out her other films, but after this one, we'd give her up permanently. We wouldn't waste our time and energy again.

Not too bad

[sergelamarche · 6/10 · 31 May 2021]

An adult story that revolves around the death of a director's mother. It works more or less and is complex enough to keep the interest.

it will uplift your spirits and give you much food for thought.

[Mobithailand · 9/10 · 13 June 2016]

Mia Madre ("My Mum") is a typical Italian offering – a story that has no beginning and no end… but the bits in between are absolutely delightful and totally absorbing.

Mia Madre is filled with unforgettable characters. At its heart is Margherita, (played by Margherita Buy), a middle-aged film director who has made any number of gritty Italian 'socially aware' movies in the style of a Ken Loach or Mile Leigh. She is now questioning whether her films really work and if they make any difference to an indifferent world.

She is having problems with her latest effort, a film about a factory whose workers are on strike and is being taken over by a rich Italian/American. She has trouble with the production and camera crews and is having a nightmare with an Italian/American actor, Barry, brought in to play the new factory owner, and who continually forgets his lines.

She has broken up with her partner and cannot relate to her teenage daughter. But the biggest problem is her mother, who is in hospital dying; but mum hasn't been told she is dying and wants to go home.

It's enough to drag down most people in a mid-life crisis and it very nearly does for Margherita. There are some wonderful scenes between Margherita and her mother and with her ex-partner, and her brother, both of whom are distressed with Mum's condition.

Then there is the interplay with her daughter who is being rebellious but is also emotionally affected by her Grandmother's condition.

From time to time, Margherita has flashbacks of her mother in better times when she was a highly regarded lecturer at a university. She sadly speculates on what will happen to hundreds of books owned by her mother after she dies.

Amidst all this, the film production stumbles on, and relations between Margherita and star actor Barry get worse and worse, with Barry 'blowing up' on set and later Margherita telling him just what she thinks of him in words that leave little to the imagination.

She has a heart-to-heart with her ex-partner and she becomes distraught by the realisation that she has been cold and unfeeling to her ex-partner and also to her family, friends and work colleagues – in fact to everyone.

It's a wonderful mishmash of emotions and strong personalities, and the great acting brings these characters alive and makes you want to know what happens. As I said, it doesn't really have any ending, but it does have closure of sorts, and the film will leave you feeling quite satisfied, as good Italian films always do.

Mia Madre won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at last year's Cannes Film Festival, and at a running time of 1 hour 45 minutes, it will uplift your spirits and give you much food for thought.

Moretti reflecting his life

[kino_avantgarde · 7/10 · 11 December 2022]

The film has many similarities with Moretti's life; her own mother is also a language teacher and she died while shooting the movie Habemus Papam. The scene where he hit the car against the wall was also experienced. Moretti also says that he used his mother's notes during his illness while writing the screenplay.

"Der Himmel über Berlin" by Wim Wenders is the movie the audience is waiting for in the dream scene.

Mia Madre is a movie rich in emotion. Especially the scene where the electricity bill passes is very successful.

As a director, Margherita is able to shape it in the direction she wants; She vacillates between the movies where she can finish and re-shoot the scenes she doesn't like when she says cut it, and the real life, where she is totally helpless. For how long can one escape the flood, the nightmares, the memories, the failed relationships-in short, everything he can't manage? Or is there an escape from life itself?

Moretti on death

[bjacob · 10/10 · 10 June 2018]

Would a film about personal loss put you off? If the answer is no, absolutely watch this: it's great. It's not by chance that Cahier de Cinema awarded it the title of best film of 2015. Forget the complacency and "faciloneria" of so much of Italian cinema: Mia Madre is a very deep film which gets its emotional tone bang on the money: it's sad, but not without a sense of humour; it's heartfelt, but never maudlin. The exactitude of some moments is breathtaking: the dream-like scene of the queue in front of the movie theatre, for example, about revisiting memories, and about personal identity, gives me goosebumps each time I see it. The tragedy and triviality of existence, the passing of time, human relationships -- everything is focused through the imperfect, but revealing, lens of the middle age crisis of the protagonist. Eventually we get to understand and love her, her difficult juggling of many personas, her honesty. This is a movie set and made in Italy but it's truly European in quality and tone. If you can get past the seriousness of the theme, I promise you you won't get bored for one single scene. I am glad we have Nanni Moretti, he's truly a national treasure.

mom

[ellearuauver · 6/10 · 12 January 2018]

The lead character is a movie director and always in the position to dominate the team.Someone call her a little of arrogant lady.But once she turn the face to the hard condition to deal with,she is about to avoid it.She wants to erase this fact from her mind totally.She is weak as well as others but she isn't good at release it in public.

Sorrowful Life and Comical Death

[helen-51122 · 9/10 · 21 December 2015]

When was the last time you heard a great last line in a movie? So great it made you burst into tears? The final line in "Mia Madre" is not a brilliant sentence in itself. (Then again, is "rosebud" profound in itself?) But in context – the way it references an earlier conversation in the film, as well as sums up the theme of the movie, and most importantly creates a definitive and meaningful end to the story (and endings are always difficult, even for the best filmmakers), in that way, this was an enormously powerful and stirring end – probably the best final line to a movie that anyone will hear in this 53rd New York Film Festival. And it literally made me cry out loud.

Basically, this is a story about a woman whose mother is dying. But, don't imagine grim or depressing. Those Italians, they understand Sorrowful Life and Comical Death in ways that Americans just do not. It's like writer/director Nanni Moretti ("The Son's Room") is tapping into an ancient source of pure emotion. And he does it so gracefully. The film is gently, deeply astute. The lyricism in the language adds to the effect; Italian is such an elegant language. It's all part of this organic sensation that comes from the film – this gorgeous feeling that grows out of my stomach and blooms in my chest.

In conversation after the screening, Moretti actually says that he wants the audience to feel that the movie is digging inside of them. That's exactly what I felt. Or, I felt the movie carving into me. As I watched, I felt like I was being sculpted. I felt as if a great master, Michelangelo, was carefully cutting, chiseling into me, and so he – the sculptor, the director, the writer – is making us – the audience – into his magnificent carved creation. And in that way, Moretti is elevating us with his talent, his vision. He is making us sublime.

Except it really wasn't "us." It was just me alone and that movie. It was so intimate. I start off watching the movie from outside and thinking about it – thinking I will "review" it, and then I am in the movie. I am living it. It is living me. I am not audience observing a film; we are involved in each other in some palpable way. It's almost physical – like I can literally feel it touching me. It brings me to life in an odd way; I can feel my heart inside my body.

Of course, the death of a parent is a universal experience, but this film manages to make it feel uniquely personal. I feel as if this director has been watching me in my life, with my family, and is now explaining myself to me. Although, I suspect it's an explanation that will feel relevant or resonant to nearly every adult. Perhaps the film score helps me to feel so fully enthralled – a variety of music from Leonard Cohen, Philip Glass, Nino Rota, and Arvo Part.

Other critics may focus on the story that binds the film's emotions together. The lead character (played with glorious subtlety by Margherita Buy) is an Italian filmmaker who is shooting a movie while her mother is dying in a hospital. Actually, this is a semi- autobiographical film in that Mortetti had his mother die while he was shooting a previous film. However, I think that fact is more significant to the personal life of Moretti than to the body of this film; having an experience and elevating that experience to an art form are two very different things.

In this movie, the story functions to bring in the outside world and its pressing realities and complexities. The specifics of what job the central character has are mostly inconsequential. Although, it is worth noting that the character's persistent and diligent return to the stress of her work environment, after each vigil beside her dying mother, shows that life goes on.

But the story also functions by bringing smartly implemented humor. John Tuturro plays an American who is a hilariously bad actor in the film that our lead is trying to make. Tuturro's approach is broad and exuberant, which is startling in this otherwise quiet movie, and ultimately Tuturro's excited approach not only works but becomes essential to Moretti's message. I am laughing, I am crying, I am laughing, I am crying… I am exalted.

Another running joke in the film is when our protagonist director repeatedly tells her actors to "be the character you are playing at the same time as you stand outside the character." No one understands this instruction, and finally the director herself admits that she doesn't know what she means. But I see this as appropriately consistent with my unusual experience of the film; I am both standing outside it, watching, and in it, experiencing.

Fundamentally, this is a story about emotion. It's an exploration of humanity. It is life and death – beautiful and heartbreaking, devastating and inspiring. It was excruciating to watch a scene where our lead character is stripped naked and exposed (metaphorically); she's made vulnerable and cut to shreds – destroyed. Then, she goes and sits silently beside her dying mother, and that gives her new life. It revives her. It saves her. Death is breathing life while life is killing her.

In the press conference, Moretti is talking, with his lovely Italian accent, and I hear… "love erupts in solitude." I don't even know what that means, but I totally feel it. I leave the theater feeling newly alive.

Funny/sad, reality/fiction/dream: a confusing picture

[Teyss · 8/10 · 5 January 2016]

"Mia Madre" is a slow burner. Don't expect to appreciate the movie or even understand its point until at least half way.

To simplify, the content of Moretti's films can roughly be divided into two categories:

• Social satire: La messa è finita (1985), Palombella rossa (1989), Il caimano (2006), Habemus Papam (2011);
• Intimate works: Caro diario (1993), Aprile (1998), La stanza del figlio (2001).

"Mia Madre" combines both. (Side note: to those who haven't seen it, I strongly recommend La messa è finita (1985), for me Moretti's best so far.)

Regarding form, they also are quite distinct:

• Mostly funny: Palombella rossa (1989), Caro diario (1993), Aprile (1998), Il caimano (2006), Habemus Papam (2011);
• Sad: La messa è finita (1985) to some extent, La stanza del figlio (2001) definitely.

Again, "Mia Madre" is between the two.

These elements (social/intimate, funny/sad) slowly build up and reach full speed in the second half of the movie.

REALITY/FICTION

"Mia Madre" actually contains two stories: the shooting of a film in a factory which provides the social, humorous touch and the illness of the director's mother with intimate, sad tones (this is based on Moretti's own experience, as he lost his mother in 2010 while shooting his previous movie). The link between the two is the director, Margherita, who is struggling with both as well as with her emotions (lover, daughter, sometimes brother). With her mother dying, she tries to find sense in her work and her personal life... without much success. As spectators we then wonder what is the meaning of her life, and of life in general.

"Bring me back to reality!" shouts the American actor Margherita hired (John Turturro, excellent in being a lousy performer). Then, in the following image her mother is in the hospital. Is this reality, suffering and death? Are we sure we do not prefer fiction? Well, seeing as the shooting of the film goes in the factory, maybe not. These "film scenes" are a direct reference to the Italian social cinema that was dominant from end of WWII to approximately the 70s, and which inspired Moretti throughout his career. But the shooting falls flat: problems cumulate, the plot looks simplistic, dialogues sound silly, characters are caricatures. However we are not sure here if Moretti is criticising the uselessness of the film being made or the fact that nowadays society is not any more willing to accept such films, despite the accuracy of their themes (crisis, takeover, redundancies). Regardless, the scenes with Turturro provide some comical relief, notably the hilarious sequence where he drives a car.

DREAMS

So what other relief from reality is there? Dreams maybe? Sometimes we are not sure if "Mia Madre" is reality or dream. But since the oneiric scenes look more like nightmares, they do not really constitute a good alternative to reality either.

• We see one of Margherita's dreams, but it looks frightfully real: people waiting in a huge line like statues.
• In another scene, Margherita's apartment is completely flooded and she has to move: this is filmed like a nightmare but is actually real.
• Likewise, once she has moved into her mother's deserted apartment, she cannot find papers and cries: a typical nightmare anguish where one cannot find what one is looking for.
• In yet another scene, to prevent her mother from driving, she tears her driver's licence and deliberately crashes her car in front of the terrified old lady. Yet it is impossible to figure if this violent scene is real or not.

"Mia Madre" also freely mixes linear narration and flashbacks without transition, hence we sometimes are not sure where scenes fit chronologically. Notably, the movie ends with a replica from the mother who already passed away, and we don't exactly know when this happened. Here is probably the metaphorical meaning of Margherita asking her actors to be at the same time "inside and outside their characters": we are both inside and outside reality and time. Likewise, Margherita seems to be inside and outside of life, partly failing her work, her sentimental life, helplessly seeing her mother drift away. So just like Margherita, as spectators we are a bit lost in the mix of reality vs dream and present vs past. To add to the confusion, the movie's tone is double-sided as we have seen.

LEARNING

A relief in knowledge then? Margherita's mother is a former Latin teacher (just like Moretti's used to be) and despite her illness manages to help and interest her granddaughter. Latin: a useless old language in our modern society, somewhat like the film Margherita is shooting... but useful for thinking and understanding, as she tries to explain to her daughter. Also, the mother's former students are so grateful for her teaching that they come after many years to thank her even if, in a typical Moretti's ironical twist, they are too late.

So the mother's knowledge will be gone, but will partly survive with the next generations. This might be the final message of the movie, one of hope despite the sad undertone of the last replica: "What are you thinking about?" Margherita asks her mother - "Tomorrow", she answers calmly (in Italian, "Domani" is even more beautiful)... even though for her there is no tomorrow, and the movie ends. Non c'è domani.

Margherita is facing all those terrible challenges that come with life...and all at once.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 29 January 2017]

"Mia Madre" is the sort of picture you might see being made in Europe…but it's far from the sort of movie you'd expect from Hollywood. After all, a film about a middle-aged woman who is nearing an emotional collapse is not big box office. And, it's certainly not the sort of picture the target audience of 16-30 would rush to the theaters to see. However, if you are patient and give it a chance, you're bound to get a lot out of this Italian film from director Nanni Moretti (who also co-wrote and co-stars in the movie).

When the story begins, Margherita (Margherita Bay) is having a very tough time in life. She's directing a movie, just separated from her husband and is dealing with her mother's impending death. To make things worse, the picture has an American star (John Turturro) who is having trouble delivering his lines in Italian…and Margherita is far from patient with the man. What follows is the progression of events in Margherita's life…and the feeling that sooner or later, she's going to snap. After all, to make all this even worse she's middle-aged…a time which is tough on all of us…and a time of change. I should know…I am at that time in my life as well! And, I guess this is why I could relate to Margherita and her story so well.

While I wouldn't rush to the theaters to see a film like Mia Madre, it's perfect to see such a 'little' film at home on your television. It is not a sweeping saga and doesn't need the big screen treatment… which is great since the movie is new to Netflix this month. It also, incidentally, received a nearly eight minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival…so I am apparently not the only one who liked it and recommend you see it!

Woman director faces mother's death

[maurice_yacowar · 9/10 · 7 January 2016]

In My Mother director Nanni Moretti examines three generations of women as they attempt to find their identities and make their lives.

The title emphasizes the grandmother, as her heart weakens and she loses hold on her mind and body. Her teaching Latin stressed the discipline of structure — in a sentence, hence in life — but she also knew when to cut loose and dance with her students. One remembers that she taught them life as well as Latin. In another Latin lesson, she urges a nuanced sensitivity to verbs. Nouns are easy enough, the given, but what counts is what we do, the verbs, the actions that we choose to define us and our lives.

Her granddaughter is a teenager just adopting the Latin discipline. She is already negotiating her relationships with her divorced parents. When she gets her scooter she learns that riding it requires care but also a loosening up and a leaning in. It's an emblem of the balance she needs to move along in life — as granny balanced discipline with dance. For want of that discipline, the girl's school term was ruined by a heartbreaking love.

The central character is the girl's mother, Margherita, a film director trying to make a labour drama while dealing with her mother's decay and death. An ex-lover actor says that she's too insensitive to others and too willful to get along.

Her problem lies in the instruction she gives her actors: "Play the actor as well as the role." The actors don't understand that and she admits she doesn't either. A director normally asks a director for total immersion in the character. But in her life Margherita lives detached from others. That's why her two relationships ended, why she didn't know about her daughter's heartbreak, why she only now learns what values and esteem her mother commanded.

In contrast to these three strong women are two weak men. John Turturro plays the comic butt, an American actor whose ego dwarfs his abilities and record. As he struggles with the language and the lines he's a caricature of playing the actor instead of the role.

Director Moratti himself plays Margherita's brother, embodying the ineffectuality usually ascribed to the women in a male-cantered drama. The devoted son takes a leave of absence from his job, then quits it altogether, despite being warned how hard it will be for a man his age to find another. Driven to fulfil the noun, devoted son, he withdraws from the constructive and responsible verbs or actions, leaving himself helpless.

The last word of the film is Margherita's memory of her mother saying "Tomorrow," when asked what she's thinking. Her daughter and granddaughter have learned from her how to face the future. Her son backed away.

Beautiful movie

[henkdroge · 10/10 · 12 August 2019]

6 months after my mother passed away I saw this movie in Groningen the Netherlands. Because of several reasons I had no time to process her death. This movie reminds me of many memories that I had with my mother and help me in processing. Thanks for Margherita Buy for her outstanding role in this movie. It gave me a lot of comfort