Georgia invites itself to the Les Arcs European Film Festival with Scary Mother ! Directed by the young and talented Ana Urushadze, this story takes us into the meanders of the soul of a neurotic creator. Manana, a housewife in her fifties, sacrifices her family and her sanity in order to finish the novel she is writing. Then begins a journey as unhealthy as it is fascinating. With its theatrical and dreamlike staging, Scary Mother is a radical work of disturbing beauty. Focus!
The Curse of the Writer
Anyone who devotes himself body and soul to the art of writing knows it: writing is a curse! The creative process is as mentally demanding as it is physically and Scary Mother portrays it perfectly. Manana is presented in this light: a psychotic artist and alone in her head, destroying everything around her as she goes. Add to that a family unable to understand this stay-at-home mother, and you quickly have misunderstandings and heated exchanges.
Scary Mother is particularly successful in the treatment of its characters, who are in no way Manichean. Viewers can attach themselves differently to them depending on their sensitivity, which is very pleasant. This pushes the viewer to be intellectually active about what is happening, rather than letting the film dictate which characters to love or hate. If it is easy to understand Manana in her desire for creation and independence, it is also very uncomfortable to see her get bogged down in her neuroses as she does. Conversely, one would very quickly be tempted to despise his family visibly insensitive to art and creation. However, the psychological shocks they suffer because of Manana quickly make us understand their vehement reactions to her and her writings.
Scary Mother is a magnificent representation of tortured artists, their creative force, but also how they destroy their social relationships (a little bit like the remarkable Mother! by Darren Aronofsky). It is very powerful to have portrayed this in such a nuanced way, as many other works would have sided with one type of character over another. Moreover, leaving doubt about Manana's deep madness (without giving a clear answer), adds another interesting dimension under which to watch the film. In short, impeccable character writing. It is a pity, however, that the film is lost and drags on during its last part. If the first half of the work is linked without any downtime (despite the slowness of this feature film), the second half is lost and loses its impact at the same time. Fortunately, the last exchange between Manana and her father is so powerful that he manages to make up for this weakness of rhythm of the second part.
A staging based on perspective
Despite the slowness of its editing and its very academic cutting, Scary Mother stands out for the composition of its plans. Skillfully playing on frames, Ana Urushadze seems to play with perspectives, transforming her sets into theater scenes. But the theatrical composition is not in itself the strength of the film. After all, many films use this type of staging, including among the selection of the Les Arcs European Film Festival (as does for example The Strange Little Cat).
Where the film achieves a feat is in the depth of field as well as in the perspective that we find in many of the shots. Indeed, a lot of frames are so deep that we would quickly come to want to see the film in 3 dimensions. This may seem far-fetched when talking about a Georgian independent film, but yet the immersion in the film would be all the more impressive. After all, Wim Wenders had already tried the experiment in The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez (with more or less success) which itself was a very dreamlike film. This perspective is also very well used, because it is as symbolic as it is practical for the evolution of the characters in space. It is therefore a real lesson in staging that is given to us. Enough to give more space to foreign independent productions, in which we find particularly impactful styles of staging.
With its elaborate staging and strong themes, Scary Mother is as perverse as it is magnetic. Enough to make you want to follow Ana Urushadze and the other budding filmmakers from Georgia closely!
