Ma Mere,(Meine Mutter),(My Mother) (2004)

12% of critics liked it
(42 reviews)
48% of users liked it
(4,254 ratings)

An attractive widow finds her attentions turning to her teenage son in a troubling manner in this drama from France. Pierre (Louis Garrel) is a moody 17-year-old who is spending the summer with his parents at their summer home in the Canary Islands. While Pierre isn't especially close to his father… More An attractive widow finds her attentions turning to her teenage son in a troubling manner in this drama from France. Pierre (Louis Garrel) is a moody 17-year-old who is spending the summer with his parents at their summer home in the Canary Islands. While Pierre isn't especially close to his father (Philippe Duclos), he enjoys a warm relationship with his mother, Hélène (Isabelle Huppert) -- almost too warm, as her affection for him subtly strains the boundaries of typical familial behavior. When Pierre's father dies unexpectedly in an auto accident, his emotional dependence on Hélène grows, while her desire for her son does the same. Though Pierre finds himself attracted to several girls his own age summering on the island, he finds it increasingly difficult to reconcile his curiosity with the growing sexual tension between mother and son. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: NC-17, 1 hr. 50 min.
Directed By: Christophe Honoré
Written By: Christophe Honoré, Georges Bataille
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: May 13, 2005 Limited
On DVD: Oct 18, 2005
Studio: TLA Releasing

Critic Reviews

Jessica Reaves, Chicago Tribune
A self-satisfied, utterly hollow Bacchanal.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
110 minutes of Euro silliness mitigated only by the presence of Huppert and the striking ability of the actors to keep a straight face throughout this mess.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
Probably isn't for anyone not interested in the darkest corners of the human psyche, where sexual annihilation is the only response to a fallen world, where all moral bets are off, and where a boy's worst friend is his mother.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
[The climax] involves such a disturbing blend of unhealthy mother-son affection and physical pain that it gives new meaning to the term child -- not to mention audience -- abuse.
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
It could stand as Exhibit A for why French auteurs are a tough sell to the average seeker of entertainment.
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
The translation from the highly literary to the literalness of film isn't easy and too often, Ma Mère feels like a parody.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Eurotrash at its trashiest worst.
Kevin Allison, Film Journal International
Most of the screenplay consists of meandering and inebriated characters talking just as high-falutin'.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
Strictly for people who see French films solely for the promise of seeing Louis Garrel's penis.
Laura Kelly, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
This sexually messy, religiously infused film is a perfect example of the dregs of European cinema.
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews
Glazed-over looks, naked flesh, inane philosophizing, and sand dunes announce that we're in Antonioni-land, circa Zabriskie Point.
Bill Chambers, Film Freak Central
Ma mère could easily be mistaken for the latest anhedonic embarrassment out of Canada

Read all 12 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Cassandra M

European cinema at its best! Producer Paulo Branco has been producing some of the best films and best directors in Europe and this is one of the latest ones. Absolutely amazing, in depicting obsession, incest, dysfunction, love, selfishness, acceptation, pain... It's particularly… More
European cinema at its best! Producer Paulo Branco has been producing some of the best films and best directors in Europe and this is one of the latest ones. Absolutely amazing, in depicting obsession, incest, dysfunction, love, selfishness, acceptation, pain... It's particularly brilliant how time and space is (not) presented. The ending is terrific and the perfect conclusion to the story. Absolutely superb, a film I think only French could have the audacity to do... I hope European Cinema gets more protection so that we can keep watching these master pieces, otherwise we'll just have to stay dumb watching the main pop corn stream...
Anthony L

French Existentialism. It does my head in! No really, this film is not as clever or as artistic as it thinks it is. Loosely based on a novel by Georges Bataille and ripped to pieces by Christophe Honoré who totally misses the point or at least doesn't understand the meaning (He… More
French Existentialism. It does my head in! No really, this film is not as clever or as artistic as it thinks it is. Loosely based on a novel by Georges Bataille and ripped to pieces by Christophe Honoré who totally misses the point or at least doesn't understand the meaning (He also thinks by ripping off great directors like Eric Rohmer & Truffaut he is as good as them). This is awkward and unpleasant viewing. So far up its own arse its untrue but if you like the thought of your mum sticking a finger up your arse and making you lick it off then watching you have sex like a horse in a shopping centre, then this film is right up your street. I just hope you don't live down mine! Extra star for the good acting, read the book instead!
Randy T

Pierre is the product of a very unconventional marriage. Both his parents lead promiscuous lives and he spends most of his childhood in a Catholic boarding school. Soon after he returns home, now a young man, his father dies and his mother, undeterred by her husband's death,… More
Pierre is the product of a very unconventional marriage. Both his parents lead promiscuous lives and he spends most of his childhood in a Catholic boarding school. Soon after he returns home, now a young man, his father dies and his mother, undeterred by her husband's death, draws her son into her perverse lifestyle. I'm not sure I'm open-minded enough to fully appreciate <i>Ma Mere</i>. It attempts to titillate by venturing into those dark places where most people feel VERY uncomfortable. If there is a moral to this story it's simply this: "Don't hump your mother". (Frankly, I didn't need an artsy French film to figure that out.)
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]"Ma Mere" starts out with Pierre(Louis Garrel) arriving at the vacation home of his parents in the Canary Islands. Soon after, his father has to return home to[/font] France on business where he is killed in an accident. Distraught, Pierre withdraws… More
[font=Century Gothic]"Ma Mere" starts out with Pierre(Louis Garrel) arriving at the vacation home of his parents in the Canary Islands. Soon after, his father has to return home to[/font] France on business where he is killed in an accident. Distraught, Pierre withdraws almost completely while his mother, Helene(Isabelle Huppert), hardly misses a beat. In fact, she gives him the key to his father's study before she heads out to party. Inside the study, Pierre finds a rather large stash of pornography. At first, he masturbates, then urinates all over it. Later, while he is nude sunbathing, Helene approaches him and tells him that it is time he got a first hand look at her hedonist ways, starting out with an introduction to her friend, Rea(Joana Preiss), who is even wilder than she is... "Ma Mere" is a sexually explicit and provocative movie about intimacy and sex, and how dissimilar they really are. Helene has sex in copious amounts, but it is intimacy and love that Pierre desperately needs.(Pierre was raised by his grandparents since apparently Helene is so carefree as to be incapable of raising a child.) And the scenic locations are very well photographed.
Daniel P

Pretty disturbing, controversial, but stunningly acted French film. Pierre, fresh from boarding school, returns home to his somewhat estranged mother. After learning about the death of his father in a car crash, Pierre soon enters a world of alcohol drugs and sex. What follows is… More
Pretty disturbing, controversial, but stunningly acted French film. Pierre, fresh from boarding school, returns home to his somewhat estranged mother. After learning about the death of his father in a car crash, Pierre soon enters a world of alcohol drugs and sex. What follows is something of a numbing experience: full frontal nudity, strong sex scenes and incest are all thrown up on screen. Had it not been for the powerful performances from Louis Garrel and Isabelle Huppert and some interesting camerawork, I may have lost interest in the whole thing (despite the subject matter), especially considering its inordinate running time.
Sunil J

SPOILER ALERT - I really thought I knew what I was getting with this movie. I knew there was a sexually confused son, back from boarding school who has an odd relationship with his mother. And I knew it was NC-17. And I actually thought most of the movie was pretty B/B- worthy. BUT… More
SPOILER ALERT - I really thought I knew what I was getting with this movie. I knew there was a sexually confused son, back from boarding school who has an odd relationship with his mother. And I knew it was NC-17. And I actually thought most of the movie was pretty B/B- worthy. BUT the last 20 minutes or so goes from unconventional, to uncomfortable, to just plain FUCKED Up. And just when I thought it was over, the son jerks off to his dead mom.
Dimitris S

It lacks a proper and developing potion so it can be revived as a unique work of art.Honore's magic couldn't possibly advance the logic of this project to an erotic masterpiece (perhaps as a commentary to family ties..),Bataille I bet wasn't too insulted by the result,I… More
It lacks a proper and developing potion so it can be revived as a unique work of art.Honore's magic couldn't possibly advance the logic of this project to an erotic masterpiece (perhaps as a commentary to family ties..),Bataille I bet wasn't too insulted by the result,I 'm feeling here though that there wasn't much passion/lust for depravity...