How do you deal with it when your little sister dies? When she no longer wakes you up at night because she's cold? What if she's simply not there anymore? Just gone.
It is this difficult situation that Mamá, Mamá, Mamá captures. The film intentionally focusses on the kids, leaving the feelings of the adults out for most parts of the film. Quite some time passes before we see the mother of the girl that died for the first time. She is mourning behind closed doors. Cleo, however, is contemplated intensively. The camera observes her sitting between her cousins with life going on, but she keeps to herself; needs time. Her sister’s death is only hinted at by artistic scenes, in which the pool is explored as the place of misfortune. However, it is never explicitly mentioned.
The first scenes of the film are fragmentary. The viewers need some time to grasp the picture. But this composition makes sense. The process of mourning ist not linear, it happens in bits and pieces, you cannot grasp everything, you zone out for a while and later it breaks down all over you.
There is hardly any music, mostly in the form of high notes, which are struck slowly one after the other on the piano. It gives room for mourning. Noises of the surroundings, however, become all the more perceptible. We get incredibly close to the characters.
Sometimes, silence is the most effective way of developing a feeling for the weight of sadness. It sinks into the audience and remains subliminally present the whole time. The intensity of this feeling will vary depending on the audience. Some will hardly notice, others will be overwhelmed. Heartbreaking scenes of the mother's desperation, as well as the helplessness of her sister, who can do nothing else than to be there for her, are portrayed from the eyes of the children - observing, calm, without any form of judgement. While this may seem very depressing, the film at the same time creates an incredible charm through comic scenes like trying out kissing for the first time while practising with a tomato.
Sol Berruezo Pichon-Rivière and her all-female team create an intimacy in which many topics like the first menstruation but also grief can openly be discussed. She takes all the time she needs to explore her characters. At the same time there is enough space to try out some artistic elements showing abstract levels of portraying death. This intimacy is also transferred to the audience. Touched, we follow the long path of healing that is just beginning. But it becomes clear that it is getting better and better. That there is hope. And that not everything is just terrible.
Depressing and yet at the same time light-footed, Mamá, Mamá, Mamá explores how to deal with death in a way that I have rarely encountered. Because of the subliminal way of depicting death and grief it depends very much on the audience themselves on how deeply they can connect to the whole tragedy of the situation. It also seems to be a significant testimony of their own experiences in dealing with grief. So, the film can be very harmless and show its beautiful touching moments, or - in a more complex manner - show the many facets of dealing with death. A very harmonious work, which I also attribute to the fact that this film was solely made by women. Since there are many levels on perceiving this film I can definitely recommend it to everyone.
It is this difficult situation that Mamá, Mamá, Mamá captures. The film intentionally focusses on the kids, leaving the feelings of the adults out for most parts of the film. Quite some time passes before we see the mother of the girl that died for the first time. She is mourning behind closed doors. Cleo, however, is contemplated intensively. The camera observes her sitting between her cousins with life going on, but she keeps to herself; needs time. Her sister’s death is only hinted at by artistic scenes, in which the pool is explored as the place of misfortune. However, it is never explicitly mentioned.
The first scenes of the film are fragmentary. The viewers need some time to grasp the picture. But this composition makes sense. The process of mourning ist not linear, it happens in bits and pieces, you cannot grasp everything, you zone out for a while and later it breaks down all over you.
There is hardly any music, mostly in the form of high notes, which are struck slowly one after the other on the piano. It gives room for mourning. Noises of the surroundings, however, become all the more perceptible. We get incredibly close to the characters.
Sometimes, silence is the most effective way of developing a feeling for the weight of sadness. It sinks into the audience and remains subliminally present the whole time. The intensity of this feeling will vary depending on the audience. Some will hardly notice, others will be overwhelmed. Heartbreaking scenes of the mother's desperation, as well as the helplessness of her sister, who can do nothing else than to be there for her, are portrayed from the eyes of the children - observing, calm, without any form of judgement. While this may seem very depressing, the film at the same time creates an incredible charm through comic scenes like trying out kissing for the first time while practising with a tomato.
Sol Berruezo Pichon-Rivière and her all-female team create an intimacy in which many topics like the first menstruation but also grief can openly be discussed. She takes all the time she needs to explore her characters. At the same time there is enough space to try out some artistic elements showing abstract levels of portraying death. This intimacy is also transferred to the audience. Touched, we follow the long path of healing that is just beginning. But it becomes clear that it is getting better and better. That there is hope. And that not everything is just terrible.
Depressing and yet at the same time light-footed, Mamá, Mamá, Mamá explores how to deal with death in a way that I have rarely encountered. Because of the subliminal way of depicting death and grief it depends very much on the audience themselves on how deeply they can connect to the whole tragedy of the situation. It also seems to be a significant testimony of their own experiences in dealing with grief. So, the film can be very harmless and show its beautiful touching moments, or - in a more complex manner - show the many facets of dealing with death. A very harmonious work, which I also attribute to the fact that this film was solely made by women. Since there are many levels on perceiving this film I can definitely recommend it to everyone.
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