Mother and Son (film)

Mother and Son (film)
Mother and Son
Directed by Aleksandr Sokurov
Release date(s) 1997
Running time 73 minutes
Country Russia
Germany
Language Russian

Mother and Son (Russian: Мать и сын, Mat i syn) is a 1997 Russian film directed by Aleksandr Sokurov, depicting the relationship between an old, dying mother and her young son. It was Sokurov's first internationally acclaimed feature film, and is the first part of a trilogy that has for its subject matter the study of the drama in human relationships. It is followed by Father and Son (2003), and by Two Brothers and a Sister, the final installment, which is in its preliminary filming stage.

Contents

Plot

The film opens on two human forms, which soon reveal themselves to be that of a young man and a frail, old woman. They recline in a silence penetrated only by whispers and indistinguishable noises. The young man is the son (Alexei Ananishnov) who is taking care of his exhausted, sick mother (Gudrun Geyer). Her illness is undefined and from time to time causes her great pain as she gasps for air. Her son combs her hair, feeds her, covers her with a coat, and takes her in his arms. She is totally dependent on him as he himself was once totally dependent on her. As the film progresses, the son carries his mother on a long journey, from her sick-bed to her death-bed. It is a circular motion, which travels a long walk through a dream-like landscape in the countryside, along winding dirt roads. At each of their brief stops on the journey is a moment of contemplation, caresses, and tender murmurs. These soft murmurs tell of the mother's love for her son when she was nurturing him and of the son's love for his mother as he opens for her the mysterious path to her death. They progress under the leaden and luminous ski of the Baltic, in totally isolated landscapes. From time to time, there is a far away train or a sail on the sea, emphasizing further their isolation from the rest of the world

They return to the house. The son tenderly lowers his mother into her bed, which now seems to resemble a coffin. Both know that the end is nearing, although he tries to reassure her to the contrary. He leaves her for a time and goes for a long, solitary walk. When he returns, his mother may have died.

Themes

"Mother and Son" (1997) is a love story, not of romantic love as in "Romeo and Juliette" or "Tristan and Isolde", but rather regarding the profound emotional and spiritual ties that exist between a mother and her son.

The theme of death and of a mother and son recalls the Christian Passion,[1] only here with the roles reversed – a dying mother, rather than a dying son – which has been called a "reverse pietà".[2][3]

Cinematography

The cinematography of the film featured images distorted by filming through painted glass panes, mirrors, and special lenses, together with sounds of "whispering wind, crashing waves, and sea-gull cries", creating an elegiac mood.[2] The dreamy landscapes have been compared to the work of Caspar David Friedrich.[1][3][4]

The painterly cinematography has been compared to the work of Peter Greenaway and Derek Jarman, and the distortions to Stan Brakhage.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b (Cave 1998)
  2. ^ a b HFA
  3. ^ a b c (Morris 1998)
  4. ^ (Uhlich 2006)

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mother and Son (disambiguation) — Mother and Son is the title of: Mother and Son, an Australian television sitcom which went from 1984 1994. Mother and Son (novel), a 1955 novel by Ivy Compton Burnett which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize Mother and Son (film), a movie by …   Wikipedia

  • Mother and Son — For other uses, see Mother and Son (disambiguation). Mother and Son Genre Sitcom Created by Geoffrey Atherden Directed by Geoff Portmann Starring Ru …   Wikipedia

  • Mother and Child — Título Madres hijas Madre hija Ficha técnica Dirección Rodrigo Gar …   Wikipedia Español

  • Blood and Chocolate (film) — Infobox Film name = Blood Chocolate caption = director = Katja von Garnier producer = Wolfgang Esenwein Hawk Koch Gary Lucchesi Tom Rosenberg Richard S. Wright writer = Ehren Kruger Christopher Landon (screenplay) Annette Curtis Klause (book)… …   Wikipedia

  • Sanford and Son — From the Sanford and Son opening credits: the sign above the Sanfords home and workplace Genre Sitcom Created by Nor …   Wikipedia

  • Father and Son (2003 film) — Father and Son Directed by Alexander Sokurov Produced by Thomas Kufus Written by Sergei Potepalov Starring Andrei Shchetinin …   Wikipedia

  • Catch and Release (film) — Infobox Film name = Catch and Release (film) caption = Promotional movie poster for the film director = Susannah Grant producer = Casey Grant Josh Siegel Matthew Tolmach Jenno Topping writer = Susannah Grant starring = Jennifer Garner Timothy… …   Wikipedia

  • Bonnie and Clyde (film) — Infobox Film | name = Bonnie and Clyde image size = 225px caption = film poster by Tom Chantrell director = Arthur Penn producer = Warren Beatty writer = David Newman Robert Benton Uncredited: Robert Towne Warren Beatty starring = Warren Beatty… …   Wikipedia

  • Sense and Sensibility (film) — infobox film name=Sense and Sensibility caption= Original poster director=Ang Lee writer=Emma Thompson starring=Emma Thompson Kate Winslet Hugh Grant Alan Rickman Greg Wise Gemma Jones Emilie François Elizabeth Spriggs Harriet Walter Imelda… …   Wikipedia

  • Mother (1926 film) — Mother Film poster Directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin Written by Nathan Zarkhi …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”