MAMMAL at ADIFF 2016. DIRECTED BY REBECCA DALY. 2016. STARRING RACHEL GRIFFITHS, MICHAEL MCELHATTON AND BARRY GEOGHAN. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
Oh boy. This is a doozy of a film, or fillum, as we tend to say here in Ireland. I watched it last night in Smithfield's Lighthouse Cinema as part of the 2016 AUDI DUBLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, formerly known as the JAMESON DUBLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. From JDIFF to ADIFF, geddit?
Present at the screening were director Rebecca Daly, a petite, chic wavy-haired brunette, and Barry Keoghan, the young fella who plays the lead male in the film. A couple of the writers also turned out for the pre-film introduction and post-film Question And Answers, which was good craic. I love a good old Q. And A. It makes me feel like I'm getting value for money, haha.
Rachel Griffiths plays Margaret Brady, the lead Sheila. She's an Aussie actress, see, hence the use of the word Sheila. I personally know her best as Toni Collette's boozy bezzie mate who loses the use of her legs in the terrific chick flick MURIEL'S WEDDING, but she's been in plenty of other stuff too. You'll probably have your own favourite memories from this leading lady's career.
Where do I start telling you about this immensely complex film? Firstly, it's as clear as day from the get-go why Margaret does the things she does, some of which are almost tragically ill-judged and shortsighted. Without giving away the entire plot, let me tell you a wee bit about Margaret Brady.
She lives in Dublin (that's where I live!!!) and she manages a charity shop. She loves to swim and used to teach swimming. She finds out at the start of the film that the son she hasn't seen since she left him and his Dad years ago has died. Around the same time, she takes a homeless teenage boy she doesn't know from a hole in the ground into her home. It doesn't take Freud and an army of his followers to connect the dots here, people.
Most folk would probably balk at the idea of giving a young gurrier, as we call 'em here, the run of their home on practically zero acquaintance. Margaret, however, embraces the idea with a haste that some viewers may find unbelievable.
As both a woman and a mammy myself, however, I know that we're a strange and unpredictable breed, ruled by our hormones and our uteruses. Or should that be uteri...? Either way, they're the boss of us ladies as surely as guys are ruled by their (ahem) wee-wees. No-one can really say for sure what they'll make us do. Therefore, we can't really say that Margaret's actions are unbelievable as such. Maybe they are, maybe they're not.
What I'm about to say may disturb you or gross you out. Margaret's ravaged emotions have conspired to make her a walking teat for Joe, the young lad she takes into her home. A painfully leaky and fully exposed raw nipple for the young man to suckle on. There, I've said it.
The whole film revolves around this concept. It's full of bare breasts, Caesarean scars and bodies touching. It's an incredibly physical film but it's by no means pornography. Or maybe it depends on your point of view. The film is even called after the one species that feeds its young from its own body.
Margaret, a quiet, closed-off kind of person, is clearly in desperate need of comfort from another human being. Joe, too, is currently missing a mother's love. Their relationships verges on sexual for a while before eventually toppling over into full-on carnality.
Some people will think that the pair are just seeking comfort in each other and the sexual relationship is how this manifests itself. The director herself said that she felt they were 'soothing' each other and she was quick to point out that the lad is not underage so this is by no means a 'paedophile' type of relationship. On the other hand, some people may find the sexual relationship disturbing, especially when Joe is wearing the clothes of Margaret's dead son.
There's more going on here than just the sex, however. Joe engages in activities with his gang of young thugs (his so-called 'friends') which are highly questionable. Unfortunately, Margaret doesn't question them at all. Also, Margaret's ex-husband is not happy that she's taken in a 'knacker,' as he calls Joe. In fact, he's spitting feathers about it. It's a powder-keg waiting to go off, people...
Rachel Griffiths turns in a good solid understated performance as the haunted Margaret, though sometimes I wanted someone to poke her just to wake her up a bit! Barry Keoghan as Joe is a superb young actor. I predict great things for him in the future. He plays the part of the little 'scumbag' so well that I was dying to ask him what his own background was, but felt it might be a tad rude.
What I did ask him, however, was how he felt about us all watching him do some rather naughty things up there on the big screen. He cracked everyone up with a remark about having seen himself on IMAX so this was nothing in comparison...!
When I quizzed him as to whether his Mammy and Daddy had seen his on-screen shenanigans, he replied with an emphatic 'no.' 'And they won't either!' he added, to more laughter. He seems like a lovely lad. I was lucky enough to get an autograph and a wee kiss off him afterwards and I was delighted with myself.
Expect to see loads of cleansing water in the film. Showers, baths, swimming pools, you name it. It reminded me a lot of Stephen Daldry's excellent film THE READER (2008). Kate Winslet and her teenage lover were in and out of the bloody bath that whole film as well.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can contact her at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
No comments:
Post a Comment