Mother and Child

Written and directed by Rodrigo García Mother and Child (2009) hinges its entire story on the delicate relationships between mothers and their children. The son of Gabriel García Márquez, storytelling is rife within García's blood, a skill which reveals itself slowly throughout Mother and Child. The film is not without flaw, in fact a bulk of the script comes off as clunky and awkward, but the true beauty of this film comes in the moments between what is being said.

Imagining the film like a web of interconnected people, it begins close with the story of Karen, the stunningly heart-breaking Annette Benning, who became pregnant at fourteen, and gave up her child for adoption the day of its birth. Thirty-seven years later Karen's life revolves around her elderly mother, the woman who "ruined her life" by forcing her to give up her child. All grown up, Karen's child, Elizabeth (Naomi Watts), is a successful lawyer who begins an affair with her boss (Samuel L. Jackson) and married father-to-be neighbor (Marc Blucas). While it is never fully revealed, it is inferred that Elizabeth's upbringing was not the most idillic, however after moving around for most of her adult life, she has settled down in the hometown of her birth-mother, yet neither woman is actively seeking the other. At the same time, we meet Lucy (Kerry Washington) a woman unable to give her husband the one thing he wants, a son of their own, turns to adoption as a final solution.

Through these three women we meet a constantly expanding cast of mothers, lovers, children and friends all of which provide some input to the various approaches to adoption, parenting and love. Admittedly I went into the film knowing nothing about it, after one of those days you'd rather hide away under the covers, so unexpectedly I sat in the theatre alone, constantly having to readjust myself so no one could see me weeping like the emotionally stable person I truly am. I think the power in this film comes from an immaculate cast and a wonderful cinematography. As I mentioned before, García's writing did grate me the wrong way for some portions of the film, but he is a master at quiet moments of introspection which I felt really made up for heavy dialogue.

As I mentioned, Annette Benning was lovely to watch, her only rival was a surprisingly fantastic performance by Kerry Washington, who I was unfamiliar but totally enthralled by. The character of Karen was obviously one the director loved, her quirks and blunt approach to people exposing her as the fourteen year-old that was never able to move forward with her life - "I'm not a weirdo. I'm difficult." Washington, on the other hand, gave one of those performances that are theatrical in nature, complete and well-formed. Possibly one of the best scenes - the others being any of the early moments of Karen's interactions with Paco (Jimmy Smits) - occurs when Lucy's mother is called in to assist the new mother after sleepless nights. These are the moments when the film truly comes alive.

Like his father, García's notion of time does not follow any strict pattern, he takes small steps in the timelines of his characters, yet launches the spectator months into the future without much notice. Sex featured a few times in the film, and on the whole it was well done, almost poetic, however a scene with Elizabeth and her boss was too much for me, a film that was so littered with innocence and passion did not need what felt like a cheap porno interlude. Obviously not without problems, the film is easy to watch, but I do believe you need to be in a particular mindset to really enjoy it, that mindset being completely devoid of happiness. I'm not sure I would recommend this film to just anyone, it has a necessity of viewership that forces you to ignore the troubled dialogue of religion and sex - or the terrible use of swearing that comes off as so labored - or every character's want to divulge their innermost philosophies at the drop of a hat. That's the world García exists in, the world he has created, a world of philosophizing and missed connections, a world of mothers and their children.