Ma Mere (2004) Full Review

Film Scene Investigation

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00:12hey it's me bo back once again on the film scene investigation channel thank you so much for

00:20checking out this video in today's review i'm going to be taking a look at the 2004 erotic

00:28drama mamiya so i came across this movie when it was recommended to me on the imdb website

00:38and what stuck out to me was the fact that the actress isabel huper was in the lead role she's

00:45an interesting actress and i've admired her work for some years now so seeing her you know popping

00:53up in this movie yeah i was intrigued to see what she would uh you know bring to the table

00:58just before we get into this erotic drama uh if you haven't already please do consider subscribing

01:06to the channel all the support is greatly appreciated so mamiya from 2004 was written and directed by the

01:16french filmmaker christophe honoré and was based on the 1966 novel by author george batai

01:25now this movie was shot on location in gran canaria a place i've actually visited i went on holiday there

01:35um maybe about four or five years ago and yeah it's a beautiful place and this movie definitely

01:44captured that beauty as well so plot wise mamiya followed the character pierre a adolescent teenager

01:53who was played by actor louis gorel he was a kid who was brought up by his grandmother and never

02:02saw much

02:03of his parents it was obvious from the start that pierre came from this dysfunctional family

02:11and he would go on to you know resent his parents for abandoning him but the reason

02:19pierre was sent away as a child wasn't because his parents didn't want him in fact it was actually

02:28because his mother played by actress isabel huper was a prostitute the family were wealthy

02:38you know they didn't need to do this for the money it was simply down to the fact that helen

02:44the mother was doing it to satisfy her desires what was even more strange was the fact that the father

02:54he knew all about it you know and he actually had his own mistresses as well

03:00so yeah to summarize pierre came from a family of sexual deviants who basically didn't want a child

03:11getting in the way of their you know sexual escapades anyways the dad ended up getting killed off pretty

03:19early on and that left helen and pierre together to you know basically pick up the pieces helen didn't

03:28really seem all that bothered about the death of her husband you know she didn't really show that

03:35much emotion at all and from that i got the impression that clearly it was a strained marriage

03:43pierre and his mother grew closer together through the death of the father one night they went out

03:51drinking together and helen and you know came clean about her and her prostitution in her eyes she felt

04:00it was time to tell pierre the truth behind why he was sent away as a child pierre was obviously

04:10upset

04:10and confused over this revelation about his mother and to be honest he you know he didn't really know

04:20how to take it the death in the family had brought pierre and his mother closer now they were actually

04:27forming a relationship something that pierre had wanted for all all those years but on the flip side

04:34he obviously had an issue with his mother's deviant behavior you had to feel sorry for the guy

04:42i mean he had been basically lied to his whole life you know living under these false pretenses

04:51you know it was information overload if the kid didn't already have issues he definitely had issues

04:58now things into a strange turn when the mother decided to set her son up romantically with another

05:08prostitute called ria i guess now that helen's true identity had been revealed she felt you know

05:18everything's out in the open and it was time to introduce her own son into her sordid world

05:27this was the point in the movie where the story's dark nature really came to the surface because

05:35ultimately helen was grooming her 17 year old son you have to remember that pierre was just a confused

05:4717 year old adolescent kid who you know his whole life all he wanted was to have relationship with his

05:56parents his father was now dead and there his mother was you know open arms wanting to look after him

06:05yeah i mean it was these weird mind games he didn't know what he was actually getting himself into

06:12i mean what about the scene where ria helen and her son went out at night to have a drink

06:21pierre ended up getting drunk and crashing out and ria and helen saw the perfect opportunity

06:28to take advantage the guy was wasted and you know he was only 17 so of course most 17 year

06:38olds can't

06:38handle their alcohol so no wonder he ended up in the state he was but to see ria then come

06:47over

06:47undress him and then have sex with pierre in the middle of the street while his mum watched

06:54that was a crazy visual for sure the sequence was handled kind of tongue in cheek as if it was

07:05just

07:05kind of you know outrageous but we shouldn't forget that ultimately it was perverted i mean ria was a

07:14prostitute he was a 17 year old kid and his mother was watching the whole time i mean that was

07:22just

07:22fucking strange it was obvious that helen clearly got some sexual kick you know some satisfaction out

07:33of seeing all this degenerate behavior but while helen certainly enjoyed what she saw that moment

07:41you know seeing her son having sex that pushed helen over the edge she suddenly made an exit she left

07:50town and left the house to her son the reason she made this quick abrupt exit was down to the

08:00fact that

08:00she had finally come to the realization that she actually did want to sleep with her son seeing ria

08:09having sex with pierre only made helen the mother desire her own son even more yes she knew it was

08:18wrong

08:18and so she decided to suppress these dark feelings by leaving town getting away and giving her and her son

08:28some space i guess the mother thought that she could suppress these sexual frustrations but uh well

08:39ultimately that didn't work now i have to talk about the ending of the movie here as what took place

08:48was indeed very disturbing so we saw helen return to the house eventually after a few weeks and pierre was

08:59very happy to see her while his mother had been away pierre had ended up starting a relationship

09:05with a girl called hansi who was the same age as him this was the type of relationship the guy

09:13should have been having you know an appropriate partner someone his own age but eventually his own

09:22twisted and confused sexual feelings for his mother came to the surface once reunited they both knew that

09:31they could no longer suppress their sickening sexual desires and so we saw them engage in some

09:39you know perverse sexual activity together it was a strange moment for sure uh i guess you know as a

09:48viewer

09:48you could see it coming but uh you certainly didn't want to see it coming you know what i'm saying

09:56yeah they were in this room it was uh very dark dimly lit and you basically saw helen the mother

10:07give her son a handjob luckily we didn't see you know any close-ups or anything like that and then

10:16suddenly helen grabbed this scalpel that she had and she slit her own throat killing her instantly it was

10:24already shocking you know seeing that visual of you know the incest but yeah to then suddenly see her

10:30you know commit suicide like she did i guess you'd have to see it as the character's way of i

10:39don't know

10:39like a final act of resistance maybe you know trying to stop herself from going through and sleeping with

10:47her son i'm glad we didn't see any you know full intercourse between the two i think that would have

10:54been been been too much you know a line would you know would have been crossed so yeah it was

11:00what it

11:01was it was still disturbing to say the least but i guess with helen's suicide as i said it was

11:07the character's way of maybe trying to redeem themselves to try and look at it in a more positive

11:15light i guess you could say that helen you know deep down she knew it was wrong and she didn't

11:24want to

11:24go through with it and more importantly she didn't want to live with the shame as for pierre you had

11:30to

11:31feel sympathy for the character because clearly he had some psychological issues he never had a proper

11:40upbringing never was able to develop a proper relationship with both his parents you had the

11:48fact that his dad then suddenly died and then on top of that his mother was grooming him i mean

11:56no wonder

11:56the kid turned out the way he did i mean how about the final scene where we saw pierre go

12:04and visit his

12:05mother's dead body in the chapel at first he's upset and he's grieving but then suddenly he tries to

12:12masturbate before getting chucked out i mean yeah that is that is not normal you know and as i said

12:20as i say it now it's it's humorous you know but uh yeah like ultimately that was not a normal

12:30reaction

12:31and like the earlier scene with ria and pierre this final sequence was kind of played for laughs

12:40you know i think the filmmakers wanted to end the movie in this kind of somewhat strange but upbeat

12:47kooky zany kind of way but regardless pierre was a seriously deranged young man all thanks to

12:57his parents lifestyle it's safe to say that mamiya did not shy away from depicting such

13:05sickening behavior on screen the film challenged the traditional social norms that we've all you know

13:14become accustomed to and so for that i give the filmmakers some credit movies with harsh subject

13:22matters sometimes leaning to more exploitation but with mamiya i thought all things considered it was

13:31you know handled pretty carefully i didn't get the feeling that the filmmakers were trying to

13:39push incest on its audience you know as if it was something that is acceptable because of course it

13:44isn't but this narrative did serve as a way for the film to explore such themes as repression

13:52and perversion when it comes to the performances i thought the actress isabel huper was the best part

14:02of the movie and she really did show her strengths as an actress you could definitely sense the inner

14:09turmoil that helen was experiencing you know not wanting to indulge in these sick sexual fantasies

14:16i also have to give the actress credit for showing bravery and taking on such a controversial character

14:24as you know most actors out there would shy away from such a provocative role so yeah good show on

14:34her

14:34she's definitely fearless besides the interesting concept and the strong performance by isabel huper

14:42one of the film's major strengths was its cinematography the french cinematographer helena

14:49louvart did a wonderful job capturing some brilliant visuals and it really was uh in stark contrast to

14:58the dark narrative i always appreciate when filmmakers take the time to add some visually appealing shots

15:07to their work as it definitely assists with the storytelling and so dislikes for mamiya from 2004

15:17my biggest dislike for the film would have to be its pacing especially in the latter half now going into

15:26this movie i fully expected it to be a slow burn because a lot of you know these types of

15:33movies these

15:34erotic dramas yeah they tend to be slow and as it was mamiya once again was a very slow paced

15:42film

15:43for the most part that was okay because it allowed the audience to well basically dwell in the discomfort

15:53of the story it's just once the hansy character who was played by emma de kunis came in and you

16:01know

16:02started a relationship with pierre i uh i did start to get a little bit restless i just wasn't all

16:09that

16:09interested in you know the adventures of pierre and what he was getting up to i think the absence

16:16of isabel hipper and her character helen uh yeah it definitely um made things seem less interesting

16:26for sure i understand what the filmmakers were going for you know taking the two characters pulling them

16:32apart and eventually having that reunion at the end but uh yeah i just um found it pretty boring

16:39i mean this may have been pierre's story but clearly helen that character was far more interesting

16:49i just wish it could have been handled better i mean you know it's a one-made movie don't get

16:54me wrong

16:55but uh yeah there was parts in it that just lingered on unnecessarily in my eyes and yeah i definitely

17:04could have trimmed at least five to ten minutes off the movie and it you know probably would have played

17:11a lot better and so ratings for mamiya from 2004 i'm gonna be rating this movie a 3.5 out

17:23of 10

17:23mamiya was certainly a unique movie experience with this exploration into incestual relationships

17:35it certainly challenged the viewer to confront their own thoughts and feelings on the subject

17:45when cinema does this it provokes an internal debate within and with mamiya because it did

17:53that it gives it a lot more significant value as i've said already isabel huper was brilliant

18:01in the role of helen the mother who had these dark desires for her son she really held the whole

18:11film

18:11together and without her to be brutally honest would have been a pretty terrible film you know i should also

18:20mention that when i watched this movie mamiya for the first time it did remind me of the movie itumama

18:28tambien from 2001 there were of course some similarities with you know an adolescent teen exploring their

18:38sexuality with an older woman so certainly if you like that movie then you'll definitely like mamiya

18:46if you've seen this erotic drama mamiya from 2004 then please let me know your thoughts and opinions in the

18:54comments section below for those who haven't i can't really recommend it overall i thought it was a pretty

19:03ambitious movie and i respect the filmmaker christophe honoré for producing such a film but

19:13it's just very polarizing and uh yeah i can't say it's essential viewing and well that's all from me

19:22today guys i do hope you've enjoyed my review of mamiya from 2004 i'll be back of course next week

19:29as

19:30always with another cult movie review don't forget to like and subscribe a big thank you to all my

19:36current subscribers out there really appreciate you guys and of course take care

19:41bye

19:47you

20:07you

20:08you

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