The Mother

THE MOTHER
MOMENTUM PICTURES
RELEASED 14 November 2003

The common assumption of the young that after a certain age people no longer have wants or desires is blown away in this powerful portrait of a woman struggling to be understood by even her own family. May (Anne Reid) comes to London with her husband Toots (Peter Vaughan) to see their son and daughter. They find their son is too busy for them, and their daughter just blames her mum for all her insecurities. It seems the only person May can talk to is her son’s old university mate, who is building a trendy (and completely unnecessary) conservatory. Together they build an unusual friendship, and it’s not long before May decides to change her attitude to life and start doing things for herself.

Tackling issues rarely covered in the movies, ‘The Mother’ has turned out to be one of the best films of the last decade, and even better, it’s British. Hanif Kureishi has penned a multi-layered look at how we view age, sex, and class in 2003, demonstrating perfectly the lack of respect and understanding of the older generation all too common in modern society. Director Roger Michell (Changing Lanes, Notting Hill) pulls out show-stopping performances from Anne Reid and star-in-the-making Daniel Craig as the friendly builder.

FIVE OUT OF FIVE