What exactly is Martin ??
A demon of some sort ??
shareIt's all allegorical..Don't try to make literal sense of it.
It's based on the myth of Iphigenia that was demanded as a sacrifice of Agamemnon because he killed a sacred deer.
I see it as sort of representing the sins of the father and the innocents that are always made to pay...as in war and in many other ways people seek revenge by targeting the innocent.
It's as old as time and still just as unjust.
why shouldn't it be taken literally? It's in a literal setting and language. And even applying your interpretation, it's still banal and just not interesting.
shareNo one said it was interesting.
I sure didn't.
You are allowed to take whatever meaning you can from it..It's a film so it's up for grabs.
Personally, I didn't find it that interesting but it is based on mythology and Martins ability to jinx the family has no rational explanation. The way they all behave and speak takes it to a level that defies reality.
If you must take it literally then good luck. Martin's ability will never be explained..Take from it whatever your imagination will allow you. Or maybe let it be meaningless.
but how can you not take it literal? the language of the movie, the editing, it all is rooted in reality. That is the problem with charlatans like the director of this film, they don't even understand cinematic language.
shareInteresting... I wonder if another director would have taken the same story, same basic movie plot and concept, but added elements of magic realism... It could be interesting... Even a couple of surreal scenes, would really change the film...
It's a very different movie, but "The 9th Life of Louis Drax" deals with a realistic concept, but takes a magical realism approach in a big way, but it works there as it is told from the perspective of a child...
This is one thing that "Mother!" did better, even though it is arguably flawed in other ways, is that you know pretty early that something is off and doesn't add up... You have mystical objects, strange yellow substances being consumed and such and the whole movie is told from a very subjective point of view with Jennifer Lawrence's character being in nearly every frame and the editing gives it a dream/nightmare like feeling...
But overall, i think the director of this movie was generally successful in what he set out to do and his choices do seem intentional... Yes, the ultra-realistic style is jarring considering Martin's ability to set up the situation for the doctor's family and there is probably a better way of filming this while maintaining the real consequences of the doctor's choices, but it isn't so jarring that the movie fails...
I guess I may be ignorant of true examples of metaphorical films. It just seems weird to me like if it's metaphorical why use phones and stuff like that and on top of that make it magical. I don't know, it's strange to me.
shareI found the combination of realism and this “curse” or whatever it was to be quite powerful.
share