Film Review: Nanni Moretti’s Mia Madre Will Make You Appreciate Your Mom

Mia Madre is acclaimed Italian auteur/actor Nanni Moretti’s quasi-autobiographical film about a filmmaker struggling to find balance between work and family. The Italian film was an official selection of Cannes, TIFF, and the New York Film Festival, and it was with good reason. It strikingly emotional in its confrontation of age, and the difficulties we all face in watching our parents get older. 

When you think of your parents, you think of your guides, protectors, and emotional foundation, but Mia Madre looks into the dreaded moment in every person’s life when they must face their parents’ potential death. People age; that is a basic fact of life. Yet, our parents can seem eternal and invincible. It is only as we grow older, and they do as well, that we realize their humanity. They are not actual superheroes, although we cherish them as such, they are human beings, which means eventually we have to live a life without them. Margherita Buy as Margherita is utterly heartbreaking as a spiritual embodiment of said turmoil. As her mother Ada’s health declines, played kindly by Guilia Lazzarini, you feel Margherita’s devastation as your own. Her mom was a bright, sweet woman full of life, and now she is dying. 

Forgive me for my bluntness, but that is what this film is, which makes it stunning. Mia Madre is simple and unadulterated in its look into pain and the desperation it causes. When you see a loved one suffer unavoidably, you can become a little self-destructive. Hence, Margherita, whom is a prominent director, seems to self-combust and get enraged in her workplace. As she tries to focus on her career and an opportunity to work with famed actor Barry Huggins (played hilariously by John Tuturro), you think you are witnessing a reflection of yourself. Buy uses the same tricks and techniques that we all use to avoid the hurt of an inevitable loss. She denies her mother’s health is bad, she randomly yells at her co-workers,  and becomes paranoid at every phone-call and bad dream she receives believing it is a sign of her mother’s death. Moretti’s approach is so human that the film captures you for its time on the screen. Still, it is not all sadness. 

As mentioned, John Tuturro is comedy gold as paranoid, “professional” actor, Barry Huggins. Tuturro carries the character of Huggins as a charismatic “mishap”. He constantly flubs lines, props, and set days to give the film a light-hearted relief. He, alone, is the perfect balance to assure that even at its darkest, Mia Madre, still offers laughs. Yet, it is love that this film offers the most.

As you see the final moments between Margherita and Ada, you treasure their love for each other and understand their frustrations at having to say goodbye. Margherita knows she will never have another mom, nor would she want to be someone else’s daughter. Your parents should always be respected and adored as the first beacons of light you receive from the world. As I wiped my tears during this film,  I walked out appreciative for my bond with my own mother and grandmother.  MIA MADRE opens in New York at Lincoln Plaza and the Angelika Film Center on August 26.