Ma ma (2015) Reviews

• Telling desperate people they can do „better" is downright evil!

  b_velkova2016-08-04

  Recently separated mother with no job and no money gets breast cancer. A tragedy? Not in the least. The life of Penélope Cruze's character is actually just beginning. In the little time she has left she gathers her strength and starts a new family, makes every moment meaningful and even gets prettier! The outcome is deadly, but it is OK, because she has lived to the fullest. Well, I find this plot not only unconvincing, but pretty harmful as well. Terminal cancer (among many other things in life) is not nice! And to be positive about it is just inadequate. Acceptance is a whole different matter and to achieve it you don't need fairy tales, but a strong sense of reality. When people are cold, they shiver; when they are doomed, they are desperate. Telling them they can do „better" only adds self-hatred to the desperation and is downright evil! I cannot see how the so called survivors can benefit from that little story either. It can only make them despise their dead for not have lived and died so glamorously and incline them to use lavishly the "sparkle retouch" on their memories. Sometimes that can give them a false sense of peace, but the truth will continue to try and manifest itself. And they should let it, because there's nothing wrong with it.

• Real Magical Realism

  scallen-250012017-03-12

  This film really touched me. Forgive me for attempting persuasion via a personal, anecdotal connection. So often, however, I believe that those types of connections explain precisely how art is able to establish leverage and truly move us as viewers or consumers. This film offers a beautiful interpretation of cancer through the eye of a strong, modern woman–interspersed with a kind of very real, magical realism. It was exquisite. Magda (Cruz) reminds me of my very own mother. For as long as I can remember, my mother has told me that one day when she was 28 years old, she saw a vision of a little girl with long brown hair walking away from her in her kitchen. Days later, she found out she was pregnant with me. My mother has a beautiful spirituality that is unique and special. She understood the vision of the girl–a figment her mind, her hope–as a source comfort that she carried with her. Throughout my childhood, she called me, "my little comfort." When I was 10 and my mother 38, she was diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer. She and my father decided to tell me and my older sisters right away. I remember where we stood in the kitchen when they told us. It's frozen like a photograph in my mind. I remember the blood on the floral bandages from her surgeries. I remember the morning she began losing her hair, the smell of the chemotherapy on her arms and cheeks, and watching the needles enter her arms after our 3 1/2 hour drive each Saturday. I remember the way her returning, peppered hair felt on my hands. I remember when that little hair that returned fell out again. I remember her many hats, her first and only tattoos–dotted radiation targets, I remember the night she rocked me and told me that she was not contagious. What I don't remember, however, and perhaps never considered until this film is how she must have felt a loss of her femininity, perhaps her sexuality, her womanhood. How much harder it was to be not only a mother to three daughters–but also a wife and a woman. This film has been reviewed negatively saying that it is melodramatic, unrealistic, and lacks depth. My opinion is so much different. I think it is so interesting that people reacted that way, because to me, I feel that those critiques display an inability to identify real, female depth. The depth of this film can be found in the seemingly unrealistic joy, hope, and selflessness with which Magda repeatedly greets fear in her life. In how she relentlessly chooses to give love, understanding, and forgiveness. The realness of this film can be found in the true story of a woman like my mother.   Just as this film helped me realize that my own mother must have struggled in an additional dimension I had never considered, I challenge viewers to watch this film and appreciate the magical strength it would actually take to face a challenge in the way that Magda does. Challenge the judgmental gaze that we, as viewers, so often feel entitled to employ–I think this is a similar judgmental gaze through which we, as a society, feel allows us to scrutinize women. If we view this film honestly, and give its magic a real interpretation instead of something created to "make us cry" or "be a tearjerker", this is when we will see its power. Magda envisions her happiness, she visualizes the goodness even when it is not physically there, and she sources joy from those around her. That is magical and it is real. Thank you for making this film. I cannot wait to tell my mom about it.

• Honest and Moving

  tj-154992018-08-30

  It bears mentioning that there are many critics and viewers alike who have criticized the film for being melodramatic and maudlin. I would counter that in fact the film is realistic. If you have had the misfortune of being impacted by cancer let alone an advanced stage cancer or if you have lost a loved one to cancer, then you very well know, the whole thing is a tragedy and it's sad and sentimental. This desire to remove the elements of humanity that we find it taboo to express is stupid and counterproductive. Cancer is sad and it's tragic and there are infinite ways to convey this but this film is no more sentimental or tragic than dying from or losing someone you love from cancer. You want a dry unsentimental look at cancer? Head on over to WebMd. You want an honest portrayal of a woman who has to come to terms with her mortality? Press play.

• Penelope Cruz is a great actress.

  nikkd2015-09-16

  This movie is filled with a lot of emotions, and being Spanish they even managed to throw in a little Soccer lol. The acting was incredible, from Penelope, to her supporting cast, to the child actors. I enjoyed the way the movie took us away at times to an almost dream like state. The comic relief was on the ball. Based on the topic at hand this was obviously not a comedy, but as in real life from time to time laughter is the best medicine. I gave the movie 8 stars but I think that most people who are movie aficionados will give it a higher ranking. I have a feeling that this one might get an Oscar nod, lets see how that turns out. I especially liked the few twists and turns it had. It jeeps you paying attention and on your toes right up to the last scene in the movie. Make sure to see it and make sure to most post your thoughts.

• Cruz alone can't save quite save it

  ferguson-62016-05-07

  Greetings again from the darkness. It's usually easy to bash the movies that go heavy on sentimentality. It's possible that even Steve Goodman would agree that this latest from writer/director Julio Medem (Sex and Lucia, 2000) could be the outline for a perfect country song: Mama's husband leaves her for a younger woman/student; Mama loses her teaching job; Mama gets breast cancer; Mama's new friend experiences a life tragedy; Mama and her new friend fall in love; Mama gets more bad news; Mama gets some good and unexpected news; things don't end well for Mama. Mix in a train, a truck and prison, and there would be no argument. Penelope Cruz produces and stars as Magda, the titular Ma Ma whose singing gynecologist breaks the news that her breast cancer will require chemotherapy followed by a mastectomy. What follows could be called a whirlwind of tragedies involving Magda, her son Dani (Teo Plannel) and the soccer scout Arturo (Luis Tosar) and the aforementioned doctor (Asier Etxeandia). The fine performance of Penelope Cruz keeps the film moving through the first two acts, and she is just so darn likable that we find ourselves really pulling for her. The strength and spirit of this woman has a positive influence on all who come in contact with her. She has an odd impact on the doctor who is clearly attracted to her, and they share a most awkward and unnecessary running dialogue about a young Siberian girl that he and his wife are considering adopting. The third act quite simply pushes the film over-the-top, as it goes beyond sentimentality and into pure Lifetime channel mush. The film is probably a bit too slick and stylized, given the real struggles of battling cancer; however, the point of female strength is not lost … though the "save the nipple" and "the soul doesn't die" discussions deliver a few eye rolls.