Xavier Dolan's Mommy Review

Mommy Review

Xavier Dolan’s Mommy rings truth of the complexities between mother son relationships. The film tells the story of a middle aged mother named Diane (aka Die) and her mentally challenged son Steve. The pair is living together once again after Steve set fire to the cafeteria of his previous boarding school. With the help of their neighbor Kyla (Suzanne Clement) Die and Steve grow their relationship to new heights. Despite this, the violent bipolar mood swings which couple Steve’s extreme ADHD continue to break and burden their relationship.  Through the eyes of Die, this story undeniably gives the spectator a glimpse of the multifaceted characteristics that exist within a mother’s love.

Anne Dorval was Mommy Die. Throughout her performance, she illustrated the love, frustration, annoyance, hate, and confusion of motherhood in various different ways. The connection that she creates beyond the screen crosses language and societal construction. The raw animalistic desire to just want to take care of her son consistently is conveyed within the film. Die as a character brings up so many social and societal issues from the media’s obsession with youth to the perceptions of single mothers, widowed mothers, and the affects of having a child at a young age. Antoine-Olivier Pilon as Steve is the relentless rascal. His performance is compelling, as the camera loves him. The depth within Steve was accurately portrayed yet at times I felt abandoned. Antoine-Olivier Pilon still has so much time to grow as an actor. This role undeniably aided in his growth. Suzanne Clement is the epitome of graceful impact as the character Kyla. She is the foil of Die in many ways yet still retains interest and presence. She is a puzzle within the film that adds to Dolan’s artistic narrative puzzles.

Aesthetically Mommy pushes the limits of modern film by alluding to previous film styles and techniques foreign to the modern spectator.  Nevertheless, it possesses cliché like aesthetic and narrative characteristics alike that cancel out its artistry. At times the soundtrack accurately aids to the mood of the scene and at times it was distracting. The melodrama within the film rang truthful, but at times the blocking seemed too formulaic. For example, in one scene Steve is riding his longboard down the street and puts his hands up pretending to fly.  The latter seems cliché yet it is coupled with him then pushing the frame out from a portrait to a wide screen. This illustrates the constant battle between art, arbitrariness, or just plain absent excess. Nevertheless, the performances of Anne Dorval as (Die) along with Suzanne Clement (Kyla) and Antoine-Olivier Pilon (Steve) translated characters that push beyond stylistic disagreements.

Similar to films in the early 1950’s and 60’s Dolan chooses to play with the aspect ratio of the film reducing the actual film to the size of a portrait. This window like characteristic relates to formalists and constructivists theories in film. Theorists such as Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov considered that by limiting the spectator to a frame they would see their social statement and not necessarily in turn create their own. Dolan hopes to do just that by showing the spectator exactly what he wants them to know. The extra is not necessary. Similar to both Vertov and Eisenstein, Dolan also plays with the concept of montage in his film in a way that aids to the narration of the film.

Frame by frame every shot tells a story. Dolan’s precision mimics the storyboards of the late Alfred Hitchcock and his undeniable “mother issues” perhaps also do the same? Film Theorists, Laura Mulvey is known for her concept of the male gaze, but also her use of Freudism to study filmmakers such as Hitchcock. Her conclusion is simply that due to a difference in genetilia males desire to fetishize or punish females. Mulvey drew these conclusions and saw such in all of Hitchcock’s films. Through studying Dolan’s pervious films, such can definitely be true for him as well. From his first film I Killed My Mommy,Heartbearts, and his current film Mommy. Dolan’s stories centered on a mother character similar to his son characters are undeniably rooted in deeper psychological and sub conscious truth.

Mommy is a film that individuals will either connect with and appreciate or hate and feel detached. The soundtrack may make you want to sing along to Oasis’ Wonderwall or make a face of disgust. Nevertheless, the film will undeniably get your attention as it did mine. The characterization of Die is one that exists around the world and Dolan made it artistic. Through the media saturated with young twenty year olds, Dolan’s ability to convey the story of a middle aged women successfully is one that needs to become a norm in modern film. Dolan possesses a voice as a director that individuals two and three times his senior still struggle to achieve. Mommy will hopefully in turn birth more stories that root in the complexities of being a woman.

Cast: Anne Dorval, Antoine-Olivier Pilon, Suzanne Clement

Director: Xavier Dolan

Screenwriter: Xavier Dolan

Producer: Xavier Dolan, Nancy Grant, Sylvain Corbeil