Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1962 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-04-25
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 140 minutes

DVD Description
When 17 year-old Pierre (Louis Garrel - The Dreamers) heads off to spend the summer holidays with his parents on the Canary Islands, a series of dramatic events throws his world into chaos and leaves his life changed forever.

With the tragic death of his father, Pierre is left alone for the first time with his mother Helene (Isabelle Huppert - I Heart Huckabees) who, along with her gang of femme fatales, draws her son into a dangerous world of sexual transgression, illicit desire and taboo-busting libertinism.

Truly one of the great new directors of our time, Honoré handles this gripping, controversial, steamy and moving film with a passion and precision of execution that is second to none. Ma Mere crashes through the boundaries of social acceptability and creates its own world on the other side.

Special Features
Interview with Director Christophe Honore Interview with Emma de Caunes (Hansi) Alternative ending Deleted scene Theatrical trailer

Synopsis
Adapted from the provocative novel by transgressive postmodern intellectual and author Georges Bataille, MA MERE is set in the visually lush and spiritually empty tourist trap of the Canary Islands. Louis Garrel, projecting the same European sultriness that was perfectly suited to Bertolucci's more warmly erotic film THE DREAMERS, plays Pierre, a sulking and antisocial teenager, willfully indifferent to being on summer vacation with his parents. When his wayward father suddenly dies, his mother Helene (Isabelle Huppert), forces him into her universe of illicit sex--a simultaneously ugly and playful realm inhabited by Gallic sophisticates engaging in orgies and bondage. Pierre, a devout Catholic, is resistant at first--to the point of Catholic guilt-induced attacks of sobbing and hyperventilation. But after fulfilling experiences with Helene's male and female playmates, Pierre obsessively pursues the sexual attention of his own mother, and a disturbing quest toward consummation of the attraction between mere and fils is undertaken. Star Isabelle Huppert's role as Helene is a perfect follow-up to her award-winning turn in the equally shocking LA PIANISTE, which featured the French fatale engaging in illicit acts with both a young male student and her own controlling, elderly mother. With her just barely constrained and visibly volatile sexual energy, the actress has become known as the "go-to girl" for roles that transcend sexual and social taboos and explore the dark and violent side of erotic desire. Her overpowering presence in MA MERE, as all great performances do, make the viewer wonder just how blurry the boundaries between actress and role have become.

Customer Reviews

Could have been so much better
I was fascinated by the concept of a teenaged boy having to go and live with his mysterious, morally ambiguous mother, but the two lead actors are compelling and talented enough for this film to have been far more subtle in its exploration of her amorality. I loved the first 20 minutes or so, and then it all became a bit more tacky than it needed to be.

That said, I found it an interesting curio and I could watch Isabelle Huppert sit and do nothing.

All in all, rather odd and could have been so much better.

So bad it's almost fun.....
Remember the old saying "vice is nice but incest is best" ? Not in this case it isn't. Anybody harbouring illicit desires should watch this - it will put you off the idea for life. Which is probably the only reason for recommending this movie. I could go into detail (Huppert sleepwalking through the script, what's a nice girl like Emma de Caunes doing in this dog of a movie) but I'm too busy laughing at James the King's excellent review. Go read it, he says it all.

Excellent. Daring and extremely raunchy
I don't understand the previous poor reviews, this is a compelling psychological study with lots of explicit sex
thrown in for good measure.
The performances are exceptional, particularly by Garrel , better known for his role as the twin brother in Bertolucci's "The Dreamers," and Huppert. With this film, Huppert again proves that her range is limitless and that she is one of most daring and fearless actresses working in today's cinema.