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IMDbPro

Mia madre

  • 20152015
  • RR
  • 1h 46m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
7.4K
YOUR RATING
John Turturro, Margherita Buy, and Nanni Moretti in Mia madre (2015)
Watch ’Trailer originale italiano [OV]’
Play trailer1:28
2 Videos
81 Photos
  • Drama
Margherita, a director in the middle of an existential crisis, has to deal with the inevitable and still unacceptable loss of her mother.Margherita, a director in the middle of an existential crisis, has to deal with the inevitable and still unacceptable loss of her mother.Margherita, a director in the middle of an existential crisis, has to deal with the inevitable and still unacceptable loss of her mother.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
7.4K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Nanni Moretti
  • Writers
    • Nanni Moretti(story)
    • Valia Santella(story)
    • Gaia Manzini(story)
  • Stars
    • Margherita Buy
    • John Turturro
    • Giulia Lazzarini
Top credits
  • Director
    • Nanni Moretti
  • Writers
    • Nanni Moretti(story)
    • Valia Santella(story)
    • Gaia Manzini(story)
  • Stars
    • Margherita Buy
    • John Turturro
    • Giulia Lazzarini
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 26User reviews
    • 172Critic reviews
    • 70Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 13 wins & 26 nominations

    Videos2

    Trailer originale italiano [OV]
    Trailer 1:28
    Trailer originale italiano [OV]
    Mia Madre -- Official U.S. Trailer
    Trailer 2:23
    Mia Madre -- Official U.S. Trailer

    Photos81

    Margherita Buy and Nanni Moretti in Mia madre (2015)
    John Turturro in Mia madre (2015)
    Margherita Buy and Nanni Moretti in Mia madre (2015)
    Nanni Moretti in Mia madre (2015)
    Margherita Buy at an event for Mia madre (2015)
    John Turturro, Margherita Buy, Giulia Lazzarini, Nanni Moretti, and Beatrice Mancini at an event for Mia madre (2015)
    John Turturro at an event for Mia madre (2015)
    John Turturro, Margherita Buy, and Nanni Moretti at an event for Mia madre (2015)
    Nanni Moretti at an event for Mia madre (2015)
    John Turturro, Margherita Buy, and Nanni Moretti at an event for Mia madre (2015)
    May Yang at an event for Mia madre (2015)
    Virginie Efira at an event for Mia madre (2015)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Margherita Buy
    Margherita Buy
    • Margheritaas Margherita
    John Turturro
    John Turturro
    • Barry Hugginsas Barry Huggins
    Giulia Lazzarini
    • Adaas Ada
    Nanni Moretti
    Nanni Moretti
    • Giovannias Giovanni
    Beatrice Mancini
    • Liviaas Livia
    Stefano Abbati
    • Federicoas Federico
    Francesco Acquaroli
    Francesco Acquaroli
    Anna Bellato
    • Attriceas Attrice
    Lorenzo Gioielli
    • Interpreteas Interprete
    Enrico Ianniello
    • Vittorioas Vittorio
    Toni Laudadio
    • Produttoreas Produttore
    • (as Tony Laudadio)
    Tatiana Lepore
    • Segretaria di edizioneas Segretaria di edizione
    Pietro Ragusa
    Pietro Ragusa
    • Brunoas Bruno
    Monica Samassa
    • Medicoas Medico
    Vanessa Scalera
    • Infermieraas Infermiera
    Renato Scarpa
    Renato Scarpa
    • Lucianoas Luciano
    Francesco Brandi
    Francesco Brandi
    Domenico Diele
    Domenico Diele
    • Giorgioas Giorgio
    • Director
      • Nanni Moretti
    • Writers
      • Nanni Moretti(story) (screenplay)
      • Valia Santella(story) (screenplay)
      • Gaia Manzini(story)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      When writing the script, Nanni Moretti used what he had written during his mother's sickness.
    • Connections
      References Touch of Evil (1958)
    • Soundtracks
      Tabula Rasa
      Composed by Arvo Pärt

    User reviews26

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    Sorrowful Life and Comical Death
    When was the last time you heard a great last line in a movie? So great it made you burst into tears? The final line in "Mia Madre" is not a brilliant sentence in itself. (Then again, is "rosebud" profound in itself?) But in context – the way it references an earlier conversation in the film, as well as sums up the theme of the movie, and most importantly creates a definitive and meaningful end to the story (and endings are always difficult, even for the best filmmakers), in that way, this was an enormously powerful and stirring end – probably the best final line to a movie that anyone will hear in this 53rd New York Film Festival. And it literally made me cry out loud.

    Basically, this is a story about a woman whose mother is dying. But, don't imagine grim or depressing. Those Italians, they understand Sorrowful Life and Comical Death in ways that Americans just do not. It's like writer/director Nanni Moretti ("The Son's Room") is tapping into an ancient source of pure emotion. And he does it so gracefully. The film is gently, deeply astute. The lyricism in the language adds to the effect; Italian is such an elegant language. It's all part of this organic sensation that comes from the film – this gorgeous feeling that grows out of my stomach and blooms in my chest.

    In conversation after the screening, Moretti actually says that he wants the audience to feel that the movie is digging inside of them. That's exactly what I felt. Or, I felt the movie carving into me. As I watched, I felt like I was being sculpted. I felt as if a great master, Michelangelo, was carefully cutting, chiseling into me, and so he – the sculptor, the director, the writer – is making us – the audience – into his magnificent carved creation. And in that way, Moretti is elevating us with his talent, his vision. He is making us sublime.

    Except it really wasn't "us." It was just me alone and that movie. It was so intimate. I start off watching the movie from outside and thinking about it – thinking I will "review" it, and then I am in the movie. I am living it. It is living me. I am not audience observing a film; we are involved in each other in some palpable way. It's almost physical – like I can literally feel it touching me. It brings me to life in an odd way; I can feel my heart inside my body.

    Of course, the death of a parent is a universal experience, but this film manages to make it feel uniquely personal. I feel as if this director has been watching me in my life, with my family, and is now explaining myself to me. Although, I suspect it's an explanation that will feel relevant or resonant to nearly every adult. Perhaps the film score helps me to feel so fully enthralled – a variety of music from Leonard Cohen, Philip Glass, Nino Rota, and Arvo Part.

    Other critics may focus on the story that binds the film's emotions together. The lead character (played with glorious subtlety by Margherita Buy) is an Italian filmmaker who is shooting a movie while her mother is dying in a hospital. Actually, this is a semi- autobiographical film in that Mortetti had his mother die while he was shooting a previous film. However, I think that fact is more significant to the personal life of Moretti than to the body of this film; having an experience and elevating that experience to an art form are two very different things.

    In this movie, the story functions to bring in the outside world and its pressing realities and complexities. The specifics of what job the central character has are mostly inconsequential. Although, it is worth noting that the character's persistent and diligent return to the stress of her work environment, after each vigil beside her dying mother, shows that life goes on.

    But the story also functions by bringing smartly implemented humor. John Tuturro plays an American who is a hilariously bad actor in the film that our lead is trying to make. Tuturro's approach is broad and exuberant, which is startling in this otherwise quiet movie, and ultimately Tuturro's excited approach not only works but becomes essential to Moretti's message. I am laughing, I am crying, I am laughing, I am crying… I am exalted.

    Another running joke in the film is when our protagonist director repeatedly tells her actors to "be the character you are playing at the same time as you stand outside the character." No one understands this instruction, and finally the director herself admits that she doesn't know what she means. But I see this as appropriately consistent with my unusual experience of the film; I am both standing outside it, watching, and in it, experiencing.

    Fundamentally, this is a story about emotion. It's an exploration of humanity. It is life and death – beautiful and heartbreaking, devastating and inspiring. It was excruciating to watch a scene where our lead character is stripped naked and exposed (metaphorically); she's made vulnerable and cut to shreds – destroyed. Then, she goes and sits silently beside her dying mother, and that gives her new life. It revives her. It saves her. Death is breathing life while life is killing her.

    In the press conference, Moretti is talking, with his lovely Italian accent, and I hear… "love erupts in solitude." I don't even know what that means, but I totally feel it. I leave the theater feeling newly alive.
    helpful•11
    6
    • helen-51122
    • Dec 21, 2015

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 26, 2016 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Italy
      • France
      • Germany
    • Official sites
      • Official site (Australia)
      • Official site (Japan)
    • Languages
      • Italian
      • English
      • French
    • Also known as
      • My Mother
    • Filming locations
      • Rome, Lazio, Italy
    • Production companies
      • Sacher Film
      • Fandango
      • Le Pacte
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • €7,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $303,002
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $34,098
      • Aug 28, 2016
    • Gross worldwide
      • $7,723,656
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 46 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

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