CIFF Review: MAMMOTH

Chicago International Film Fest 2009 – Review: Mammoth

Mammoth, the latest film written and directed by Lukas Moodysson, is a two-hour contemplation of family, materialism, and the seemingly universal quest for a better life for our children.   Unfortunately, the film states its point pretty clearly in the first twenty minutes, and then proceeds to persistently repeat itself for the remaining one hundred minutes.

The film has been compared to Inarritu’s Babel, in that it centers on four intertwined stories that occur simultaneously across the globe.   Ellen and Leo are a happily but busily married couple in New York.   Ellen (Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain) is an emergency room surgeon, while Leo (Gael Garcia Bernal, Babel, Y Tu Mama Tambien) is a computer whiz, a video game aficionado, and most recently the creator of a wildly successful website.   While Ellen spends long night shifts at the hospital and Leo flies to Bangkok to close a multi-million dollar investment deal, their daughter Jackie is left with the Filipino nanny, Gloria.   Meanwhile, Gloria’s own children in the Phillipines struggle with the distance from their mother and the reasons for her absence.

Perhaps the most dominant theme throughout the film is “guilt”.   Both mothers, Ellen and Gloria, work hard to provide a solid upbringing for their children, but feel guilty over leaving the actual rearing of their children to someone else.   Ellen finds a substitute in a child stab-wound victim at the hospital, while Gloria dotes on the American child in her care while sending all her money home to build a new home for her own family.   Leo, in a perpetual state of “protracted adolescence” according to his wife, explores the poverty-stricken and tourist-riddled world of Thailand, feeling nostalgic for his youth and guilty over his newfound wealth.   He tries to befriend and help Cookie, a Thai prostitute, but ultimately treats her in much the same way she’s always been treated.

Moodysson’s tale tries very hard to be complex and meaningful, but comes across as overwrought and slightly stale.   He does manage to create some interesting parallels, though.   Irony is used, perhaps too much, in the portrayal of the two families.   Both mothers want what the other has: Gloria wants more opportunity for her children, while Ellen wants to be closer to her own daughter.   Leo’s relationship with Cookie is mirrored by Gloria’s young son Salvador who tries to find work so that his mother can come home, only to be taken advantage of by an American.

Overall, I found the film to be tiresome and over-written.   The quality of the acting was hard to gauge with lackluster writing, but no performance stood out as either amazingly good or bad.   The movie was not without its finer points though.   Moodysson’s more poignant moments are the ones that he lets speak for themselves, without characters commenting or explaining.   In one scene, after a long night in the emergency room and unable to sleep, Ellen curls up in her daughter’s small bed, clutches a stuffed animal to her side and dozes off, her anxiety over their relationship for one moment eased.   While exploring Thailand in another scene, Leo stops his cab to gape at an elephant standing by the road.   He stares in wonder at the animal, mimicking the movement of its trunk with his arm, while the cab driver stands behind him, bored by this sight that is commonplace for him.   These moments speak volumes more towards Moodysson’s ideas than most of the dialogue does.