Mother and Child

[funthing29]

I'm not even sure how to put my thoughts about this film into words. I'm left pondering whether I liked it or not so I guess I am sort of indifferent to it. Character development was slow but strong performances throughout. The script was not particularly engaging but there is a clear message that does come across but the execution was not as strong as it could have been. Very forgettable. 5/10.

[valda]

I met up with a new member and MrG at O2, dragged them up to the balcony but was told it was full, then we did the walk of shame back down the stairs and went in the normal way. managed to sit in the noisiest place with lots of eating, talking phones going off with Calypso ringtones, and so on and so forth.

I was quite interested in the film as I was adopted, straight from birth in a private adoption. I never had the abondonment issues that lots of people seem to have, but, I did want to know my heritage as it seemed to be very interesting to people I met once I moved to London.

So about the film. I thought it was a bit too long and a bit slow, with unresolved questions. Apparently there are deleted scenes in the DVD that answer the questions. Most of the Women were real ball breakers and not remotely likeable but hey who says you have to like people in a film? Great performances all round, and good to see Samuel L not being Samuel L. 7/10

Was it worth getting caught in a typhoon on the way there, and having a coat so wet you can't wear it on the way home? I think so vx

[biggins]

Saw this at Westerhailes last night and agree with Beate that somethings never went anywhere in the storyline. Why was the blind girl in it at all and why didn't we see the female next door find the knickers?

The only bit I found amusing - as did other mothers - when she couldn't cope with baby Ella and had to phone her mother!

Ella as a little girl was very cute but didn't bond with any of the characters. Too long and slow to start with too many jumping back and forward scenes. Got lost at one point when she got married I thought it was much later on but turned out it could only have been about 2 months since she started going out with him because the girl wasn't much further on in her pregnancy.

A reasonable film to end my total of free films for 2011 but not among the best this year. 6/10.

[Celini]

Whaaaattttt? Sounds like the only bit worth watching.

what I thought too!
(sf did not bother, lucky him!)

[Beate]

The more I think about this film, the more I find wrong with it. I've never seen so many annoying characters in one place. I bet with you that the Latina househelp only moved away because Annette Benning started monopolising her little daughter. She had this knack of always blaming everyone else for what went wrong in her life - just get a grip! And Naomi Watts, geez, control freak with relationship issues to the end. "I am not one of the sisterhood." You're not really one of anything.

[mupton]

Went to see a free Sky Preview of 
"Mother and Child" last night at the O2. The film intelligently looks at adoption through three different female perspectives. 

Well drawn characters, well acted. Can Annette Bening turn in a bad performance, seems not. Thankfully not predictable. This is not a TV movie. The wife/girlfriend will like the film. Make sure they take tissues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFH9P7W8 ... ata_player

[prettyxcool]

Also, Naomi Watts' character was a tad strange, you were left wondering whether she was the way she was because she had never known her birth parents (her adoptive parents were never really mentioned), and there were scenes that went nowhere, like with the blind girl, or when she put her knickers in her neighbour's underwear drawer.

I agree she was strange - and she was not a character I liked but, you did feel sorry for her towards the end. [spoiler]I think the knickers scene was she wanted the neighbour's wife to find out, and the scene with the blind girl, was that it helped made up her mind to look for her biological mum.[/spoiler]

Totally agree with that interpretation. We dont want need that story developed because then the film will lose focus. This is what I like about this film's direction, it stays with the characters we need to focus on. [spoiler]We dont need to see the development of the knickers in the draw plot because that one action has only one outcome which doesn't need to be told in this film. The blind girl also served a valuable plot device for Watt's emotional journey.[/spoiler] The more I think about the film, the more I think how beautifully it was done. I wont add more marks though, it still has its slight flaws.

[spoiler]At first I though Watts death was predictable and too forced to draw a narrative impact. But thinking about it more, I realise her death was a harsh but necessary drive to emphasise the message of lost opportunities and regret.[/spoiler]

It was obvious what would happen with the knickers in the drawer, and it was not about the wife finding out, so really no need to develop that as the scene just highlights how cold and devious Naomi's character is and that I think was the purpose of that.

The more I think about the film, the more I liked it and I even dreamed about it - just shows how much it affected me - the mother and child issues. [spoiler]At first I thought her death was unrealistic, as who dies in childbirth these days, but of course, it has to happen, and the baby had to be black, otherwise the black girl could not adopt - so it all fitted into the storyline.[/spoiler]

[valda]

PCX [spoiler]she wasn't supposed to put a strain on herself because of the placenta issue, also she was determined to give birth rather than have a C section so that is probably why she died[/spoiler]

[prettyxcool]

Was it worth getting caught in a typhoon on the way there, and having a coat so wet you can't wear it on the way home? I think so vx

That reminded me. On my way to the cinema, a big gust of wind push the cafe awnings upwards and the rain that it had collected splashed straight on to two guys walking by - literally two seconds before I was about to pass! Lucky or not? It was like a bucket of water was thrown on to them. It happened so quickly and it was so funny that we stood around afterwards having a laugh! Me, they, and the people sitting under the awning drinking coffee!

I wished I had my phone ready to have filmed it! I could have posted it on youtube.

[prettyxcool]

PCX [spoiler]she wasn't supposed to put a strain on herself because of the placenta issue, also she was determined to give birth rather than have a C section so that is probably why she died[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I could identify with the placenta issue as the same thing happened to me, but luckily my placenta moved at the last minute and I could give a normal birth. I was actually packed to go in and have a C but the final x-ray saw it had moved. I thought she did have a C in the end as they had the sheet surrounding the bottom half of her, and she was delirious from the effect of the epidural, a lot of people want to stay awake even with C so they could see the baby as soon as it is born by C section, so epidural is used or whatever it is called. When I thought about it I think she died as she was bleeding as she had strained herself moving...but I admit I was quite shocked by her death as I so wanted the mother to meet her.[/spoiler]