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| Screencap from the film |
Mother and Son is the story of a mother and her son living alone in the (presumably Russian) countryside. She is dying of some debilitating illness, and the son tenderly cares for her every need. What’s truly exciting about this film is its focus on the surroundings of the characters, as opposed to the characters themselves. We learn almost nothing about the lives of these two protagonists; instead the hills and valleys in which they live become a third character, more present and meaningful than either of the other two.
Sokurov achieves this in quite the artful fashion: he crafts an elaborate soundscape whenever the two step outside, showing us the magic that may be found in silence. We hear every twig that cracks beneath their feet, every whistle of a bird, every rustle of their clothing in the breeze. The steady silence is hypnotic, until you are entirely lost in the world in which they walk. In fact, I became so enveloped in the beautiful dreamlike scenery, that when I again focused on the actors (whose dialogue did not interrupt the film often) they seemed almost tawdry in comparison, and their acting became secondary in quality to the work of art behind them. Sokurov’s use of filters was also gorgeous; the opening scene is not unlike an impressionist masterpiece. When I watch films by myself, I tend to flick back and forth to Facebook and my emails and the like, but with this film, it was impossible. The impetus of the film was not carried in plot or in dialogue (which I can easily grasp without actually watching a film) but in the landscapes and the long takes of their walks, so I couldn’t look away.
All in all, I was hugely impressed with this film, though its characters were somewhat underdeveloped.
RATING
FRESH
