_Mat i syn_
A Film Review by Cynthia A. Bussiere
Copyright 1998 Cynthia A. Bussiere (1998)
(US title: _Mother and Son_) (UK title: _Mother & Son_)
1997 - Russia / Germany In Russian with English subtitles
PARTIAL PRODUCTION CREDITS Producer: Thomas Kufus Director: Aleksandr Sokurov Writer: Yuri Arabov Cinematographer: Alexei Fyodorov Editor: Leda Semyonova Music: Glinka, Nussio, Verdi
CAST CREDITS Mother: Gudrun Geyer Son: Alexei Ananischnov
_Mat' i syn_ is a 73-minute meditation on the extraordinarily close and compassionate relationship between a dying woman and her adult son. Described by Nancy Ramsey of "The New York Times" as a "reverse Pieta," the film portrays part of a day in the shared life of the two characters.
The mother and the son, who have no given names, share a dacha in the woods somewhere in 19th century Russia. Suffering from an unspecified terminal illness, and occasionally in great pain, the mother is too weak to walk or to feed or otherwise care for herself. Her son carries and feeds her. When she is thirsty, he gives her liquids from a baby bottle.
The pair shares an unusual physical closeness and a deeply spiritual bond. Because of the mother's illness and weakness, their roles are frequently reversed such that the son becomes the parent, nurturer, and caregiver, and the mother becomes the child. Thus, when she naps, he lies down on her bed and naps with her. He also holds, embraces, and caresses her, much as one holds and cuddles a baby. Spiritually, the two are so close that they dream the same dreams.
Despite the mother's total dependence on the son, and the resulting constant proximity of the two, their relationship is characterized by a profound mutual respect. From their conversations, which comprise the film's only dialogue, one learns that even though their relationship has always been close on many levels, it has not always been without its difficulties.
Apart from the gentle and touching nature of the story and its characters, the beauty of this film lies in its pace, its photography, and its sound. Paced very slowly indeed, the story plays out gently, poetically, and almost in real time. This careful, deliberate pacing lends the film what J. Hobel of "The Village Voice" has called its "incredible stillness." The pace also imbues the film with a great reverence for its characters and their relationship. Both the pacing and its substantive effects on the film are reminiscent of Tarkovsky's similarly slow-paced work (for example, _The Sacrifice_ and _Nostalghia_).
Photographically, the film alternates between tight shots of its characters and wide, expansive eye-level and aerial shots of the countryside and the sea. The film is in color, but its colors are subdued and often washed out. Interestingly, a number of scenes are shot through mirrors. Other scenes are shot through filters of painted glass placed in front of or behind the camera's lens. The resulting mild distortion and blurriness give the film its dreamlike and painterly qualities which, in turn, add further to the film's qualities of stillness and other-worldliness. Indeed, Sokurov apparently deliberately sought to evoke the style and natural imagery of Caspar David Friedrich, the 19th century German romantic painter. In its expansive exterior shots, the photography is also reminiscent of Angelopoulos' films (for example, _Ulysses' Gaze_).
In terms of sound, the film contrasts the low and quiet speaking tones of its characters with heightened and amplified sounds of nature--- the rush of wind through trees, the gurgle and babble of a running creek, the breaking of waves on the seashore. Against this great, natural, outer world, life in the small, inner world of the mother and son plays out.
The film's two actors bring an unusually high degree of understated authenticity to their roles. Such an accomplishment is all the more unusual in light of the fact that these actors are not "professionals," in the sense that they don't make their primary livings as actors. Geyer works in documentary films in Germany. Ananischnov, whose family Sokurov has known for a long time, manages a Pepsi plant in St. Petersburg. Ananischnov also appeared in Sokurov's 1988 film _Dni Zatmeniya_ (_The Days of Eclipse_). Regardless, or perhaps because, of their "non-professional" backgrounds, both actors bring a depth and sensitivity, together with a complete absence of sentimentality, to their portrayals that is rarely seen in films, especially in films of such little conventional action and dialogue as this one.
There are no characters in the film other than the mother and the son. Yet there are indications of human life outside the little world of the dacha and its immediate environs: A long shot of a train periodically crossing a valley in the distance, and an aerial view of a three-masted schooner in full sail just off the coastline. By this visual contrast of the ongoing course of life in the outside world with the small, private world of mother and son, the film articulates one of its opening lines and perhaps one of its themes. As the film opens, the son is recounting to his mother a dream in which he was searching, unsuccessfully, for some words. The mother supplies the words which are, in effect: "God only exists in my consciousness. He does not extend outward to the world in the ordinary course of things. This imperfection makes my heart heavy."
Like many of the films of Alain Resnais, especially _Providence_, _Mat' i syn_ is a filmmaker's film. It comprises a story that cannot be told in its entirety and completeness in any medium other than film. For this reason, the very act of watching the film is an immensely pleasing and deeply satisfying aesthetic experience.
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