Save the Date, Saturday, February 19, 2011. Ideas? Dogtooth, 2010 Oscar Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film (Greece)?
OK, so we did not see Dogtooth, we saw Mother, a 2009 South Korean film. The mother we learn is motivated by guilt and is forever looking out for her son but in doing so she prevents her own self-growth and self-realization. In the end, she is not a happy camper, exposing a dark side to her blind devotion. She is not living her best life, as Oprah would say.
I don't think any of us would go to the extremes the mother did although we do make sacrifices and compromises every day about what we're going to do and how we're going to live our lives, guided hopefully, by principles we believe in, that have some foundation. Ultimately, the decisions we make should make us feel happy, or at the very least are ones we can live with.
Enjoy the day my friends! Another sunny one :-)
I have been ruminating on the mother's comment to her son "You and I are one, we are the same person". I heard this as a reference to the mother/child bond, but we see later in the film that this mother and son share the same character and a oneness in a way that is profoundly dark. As Gary mentioned, the mother is blind to her own self-realization and her blind devotion to her son keeps her both from seeing herself in him, and from nurturing his growth.
ReplyDeleteMother and son commit the same crime, and the role reversal as the son now covers for the mother is both dark and compassionate and moving...a moment of terrible beauty.
Haven't decided how I feel about the last moments of the film ....would be curious to know others' further thoughts on the final scene...I think the mother chose to turn away from her transgressions and so unlocked the knots in her heart as she had been coaxing others to do throughout the film - she had learned her lesson and instantly decided not to be ruled by guilt this time. The idea of choosing to no longer steep in one's transgressions but to choose to be free and present to life is one that certainly resonates for me.
Chocolate Meringue Cookies
ReplyDelete2 egg whites
1/2c white sugar (caster sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp cacao
1/2 c bittersweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Whip eggs until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, then vanilla and cacao.
Bake 1 hour. Leave in oven 2 more hours.
Makes approximately 9 cookies.
oops, forgot to add the folding in of the chocolate chips as last step....
ReplyDelete