"The pleasure only begins the moment the worm is in the fruit" ...And, thus sums up the pathetic philosophy of Pierre's depraved mother in Christophe Honoré's MA MERE. The line is so ridiculous that it is almost unimaginable that an actor could deliver it in a realistic way, but the great Isabelle Huppert infuses her character with such rage, sadness and guilt that the line is not only believable as she says it - it is tragic.MA MERE is based on the unfinished novel by Georges Bataille which was not published until some time in the early 1960's well after his death. Bataille's writings were a sort of grim philosophy through the use of fiction. His work was provocative and transgressive. Years later this would turn out to be a perfect film for Honre and an even more perfect role for Isabelle Huppert. Huppert, perhaps one of the finest actors to ever grace the screen has always seemed to be attracted to that of the transgressive. And, with MA MERE she found the ultimate in just that.
I did attempt to read this novel when I was in college but was repulsed by it and never finished it. When I first saw the film I was repulsed by it but also fascinated. At the time, 2005, critics were claiming that MA MERE was a part of a new wave of French Cinema which was being called the French Extremist Cinema. I disagree with that assessment. If anything, this French film is almost Puritanical in it's presentation of the debased morals and actions of it's characters.
This is not a film of the erotic. This is a film of the neurotic that turns the graphic scenes on the screen into the far opposite of sexually charged erotica to depleted depression. The characters in MA MERE are without hope or joy. Sex has become a tool to escape their boredom and to extract their anger with the world and themselves.
Honre was quite brilliant in the way he transitioned Bataille's words to the screen. One of the things I love most about French, Japanese and Korean cinema is that most serious filmmakers from these countries never insult the audience by holding its hand. The actions of characters are presented and the audience is left to determine what motivates and why. This is something which is normally sadly missing from US/UK cinema. The story is fairly simple, but presented without much explanation so the viewer must pay close attention to fully understand the situation of the characters. Pierre (played beautifully by Louis Garrel) has been raised by his Grandmother in France. His father has arranged for him to visit his parents at their home located in the Canary Islands. It soon becomes obvious that Pierre has been shielded from his parents due to the debauched life that they have chosen to live. Pierre had been raised Catholic and soon discovers his fundamental beliefs shaken to the very core by the depraved world of his parents.Before long, his mother pulls him into her world of orgies, meaningless sex and sado-masochistic "pleasures" and the young man finds himself caught somewhere between the desire to know and love his mother and the oidepal desires toward her. The use of religious symbolism is strong in Honore's film and the boy's confusion between right and wrong, good and evil, love and sex are further complicated by his desire for holy salvation.
Filmed, at times, in an almost cinema virte style, Honore manages to make the entire film feel so sleazy that one almost feels the urge to run from the screen and take a shower. But, the story and the performances will hold most viewer's to the screen until the bitter and ultimately shockingly tragic ending of the tale. An ending created by Honore.Of course the climatic moment of the film is the doomed attempt at the sick desire of both mother and son to consummate their relationship. It is during this crucial scene that Honore and his cinematographer shy away from the style we've seen used in the film. This scene is not graphic but the most uncomfortable and disturbing of the film. Shadows, extreme close shots, careful lighting and editing forbid us to see exactly what is happening. It is never clear if Pierre and his mother actually have penetrative sex. What is clear is as the situation "heats up" the mother pulls a small scalpel and slices into her side and appears to guide the hand of her son to the open wound -- thus there seems to be an allusion toward some perversion of Christ -- and, then, at what appears to be the moment of Pierre's sexual release we hear the nauseating sound of skin slicing. The mother has sliced into her throat.
As this film is older and it has been much discussed by cinephiles, I don't feel I will be betraying anyone by discussing the very disturbing way in which Honore ends MA MERE. The camera captures in gruesome detail Isabelle Huppert's body being cleaned for viewing by a mortician. Once completed the son in utter despair walks into what appears to be either a viewing or embalming room. He stands at the metal table on which the dead body of his mother lies and Louis Garrel is given his most powerful scene -- as he appears to morn his mother his confused emotions lead him in a vain attempt to maturbate by the dead body of his mother pleading that he does not wish to die.
The mortician and a policeman upon realizing the boy's actions attempt to restrain his insane reaction and the disturbing use of The Turtle's "Happy Together" fills the soundtrack -- and without warning, Honore abruptly ends his film with a thud into silence and credit roll.MA MERE is obviously not a pleasurable viewing. But, for those who like to think and be challenged away from the usual conventions of cinema -- this is a powerful film that takes one to places seldom intellectually explored. Though disliked by many, I find this film to be one of the best to come out of the new century. Powerful and unusual, it features one of the most brooding performances ever given by a female actress and a most intriguing and psychologically visceral cinematic experiences. An absolutely unforgettable and unique movie!
