Deep in the Weeds with Mother! - Analysis of the Film's Fine Details and Larger Themes (Spoilers)
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- čas přidán 18. 06. 2024
- Deep in the Weeds with MOTHER! (SPOILERS) -An analysis of the film’s details and specific moments, as well as some general thematic interpretation.
Strictly speaking, this is NOT a Review of the Film but an Analysis and Speculation on the film's finer points and interpretations.
2nd screening thoughts - details I missed in 1st screening.
Broken down in outline form, for ease of reading and skipping around.
written and narrated by Paul Woodson
SPOILER WARNING: These notes utterly spoil the entire film, from general plot points all the way down to specific acting beats. The film is best experienced the first time by discovering it for yourself! I highly advise reading this ONLY if you have already watched “mother!”
You may also READ this analysis on my webpage here:
paulwoodson.blogspot.com/p/dee...
www.paulwoodson.com
/ paulwoodsonnarrator
/ paul_woodson
I am a professional audiobook narrator, so feel free to browse my titles on Audible:
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Or listen to some samples on SoundCloud:
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Photo stills, ©Paramount - Krátké a kreslené filmy
I’d also like to point out that the bra Eve is wearing, when mother tries to see her after god boarded up his office, is green and floral like how humans covered themselves up with leaves after eating the fruit of knowledge.
I noticed that the soldier that tries to save her speaks up to call for medical assistance, then gets his jaw shot off. Could he represent those who recognize the harm and risk to the earth, and how they are silenced by religious outrage?
The speed of the movie's plot might also be so fast because we see it happen through Mother Nature who like the environment, operates on a very different time scale than we as humans do. This might also explain why her baby dies so quickly as for her the 30 years might feel like 20-sth hours
That's true by the ending, though the movie begins at a very slow and deliberate pace and gradually accelerates. It only reaches a breakneck pace by the third act, all of which IMO helps build the film's dramatic tension all the way up to its inevitable conclusion.
This movie is absolutely incredible. I really think it was completely passed over by people. The thing that really blew my mind about this movie, besides the whole overarching metaphor, was how PERFECTLY it captured the *_feeling_* of a dream or nightmare. Dreams are never ever accurately portrayed in film. It's always some stylized "surreal woah dreamy huh?" imagery. It never accurately captures the uncanny specificity of a dream. But this movie, and that um....baby scene in particular, nails it.
This is a nightmare rendered about as accurately as can be...outside of literally experiencing it within the confines of your own sleeping mind.
I know that's not necessarily the idea behind this movie....but I think it is an element that Aronofsky consciously went for. And holy shit did he succeed.
@@WoodsToLiveBy I think accelerating speed is parallel with how human technology develops and ,probably, brings our end. For example imagine the heat data etc regarding global warming, its not a steady pace it gets faster and faster.
This is true according to science actually. We humans existed as hunter gatherers in balance with nature for nearly 300,000 years and only began settled agricultural societies 12,000 years ago and went from 1 billion people to now 8 billion people in a mere 200 years....
This movie is absolutely incredible. I really think it was completely passed over by people. The thing that really blew my mind about this movie, besides the whole overarching metaphor, was how PERFECTLY it captured the *_feeling_* of a dream or nightmare. Dreams are never ever accurately portrayed in film. It's always some stylized "surreal woah dreamy huh?" imagery. It never accurately captures the uncanny specificity of a dream. But this movie, and that um....baby scene in particular, nails it.
This is a nightmare rendered about as accurately as can be...outside of literally experiencing it within the confines of your own sleeping mind.
I know that's not necessarily the idea behind this movie....but I think it is an element that Aronofsky consciously went for. And holy shit did he succeed.
I think Tony's dreams in "The Sopranos" was pretty close to actual dreams, especially the one with the obscured woman on the stairs.
David Lynch's films, Mulholland Drive in particular capture what my nightmare dreams are like perfectly.
Of course it was passed over by people. Even people familiar with the Bible are hard pressed to make the correlation. Let alone non-Christian and non religious people. When you aren’t aware of the context, it makes absolutely no sense.
Where's the followup video!!
I knew as soon as he said ‘1a’ that this was gonna be good!
👏
It's funny; this whole project just started out as a literal outline format (I, A, 1., a., etc. - does anyone still use that format anymore?). It was never intended to be a video or even audio recording.
Then as I went back and refined it, I thought, well, why not share it with the world? I'm already a voice actor, so let's just record it in my booth. And I'm just going to read it in the original outline format - maybe laziness on my part, but I also think outlines actually help the brain compartmentalize information more effectively.
Then, once it was recorded on audio, I went one step further and thought, "I already have a CZcams channel of some pretty silly musical recuts; why not just upload this too?" So I added a few stills, did the very slow Ken Burns effect to them and here we are. :)
God is Mother's father as well as her husband. Adam says in the movie : "I thought she was your daughter" and God says nothing... creepy right?
Yet another reason the Creator Goddess makes more sense.
Well, in the Bible, the Virgin Mary is the daughter of God. And she is also the mother of God's son. So yeah, creepy
Good catch.
I also thought it was a parallel to how new the world is in comparison to god
Well, she sort of is
That was OUTSTANDING
i have watched several videos now and no one seems to mention something important about the doorknob..a subtle detail of significance. the doorknob used in the initial killing and second sin..comes from the door to his work office aka paradise. the first sin caused him to close the room / paradise, ripping the doorknob off and enabling the way to the second sin, having the knob be available as a weapon.
This Analysis is genius. Spot-on!
I was thinking about the yellow powder that Mother drank.
It’s more Greek and Roman thanAbrahamic but, ambrosia and golden nectar turned the blood of the Olympian gods into a substance known as ichor. This is shown in the myths to be a divine life force which made the deities deathless. The gods had to consume ambrosia and nectar regularly to ensure that their blood continued to turn into ichor otherwise they were not immortal?
This gives Mother strength when she is weaker, but she gives it up when she is creating life with God. Then she becomes fallible.
The belief of transubstantiation still exists in the Roman Catholic Church where they believe the wind by literally become is blood in the body of Christ in a cannibalisation ritual. Churches like the Anglican congregation believe in consubstantiation, which is only a spiritual change of the body and blood.
Many other churches just use it as a commemoration of the last supper.
Whether it’s the book of revelations/Armageddon or the entirety of the world. It’s the same thing. The idea is that Armageddon has not occurred yet. So I believe it starts with the birth of Christ the Earth destroying Christ and all of the tragedies from the new Testament up until now ending in the end of the world (which obviously has not occurred yet)
That’s the best explanation for the yellow powder I have heard yet
What if it is the sun. Earth needs the sun to live
This analysis should really have more views! Way more! Also more people should see the movie. It's a movie worth seeing.
💎💎💎 In the end she has nothing left to give, and he takes her heart, in form of a diamond.
Diamonds are carbon from deep under the surface of earth.
Diamonds become diamonds under high pressure and heat.
I believe carbon is the odlest element we know, and the building block of all life on earth.
The strucrure of carbon is haxagonal, and in the periodic table it is nr. 6.
It makes sense.... Earth is gone, under heat and high pressure her heard turned into a diamond. He takes it, and creates a new universe and planet with carbon.
Carbon is now the oldest element in that new universe.
And then a new planet is born.
That is the reason why she lookes different every time she wakes up....
great explanation!
🤔🧐🤨
Sounds legit
@@littlefurballs Thanks..... 🤗
The best analysis I've found so far, and you nailed the flood... but it's said in a book of Peter the world would next be destroyed by fire. First removal, flood. Second removal, fire. I haven't seen any analysis that put those together
love the way you refer to characters, "the young black gentleman who seems mostly benign compared to the others" and then like a minute later "the old dude"
I think Him's agent is a representation of Lucifer's fall from heaven. She is Him's favorite person (Lucifer being god's favorite angel) besides mother. The agent even questions the relationship between mother and him. While she tries help control the chaos with Him. She eventually revels in it.
This is an angle I hadn't considered. I could see it that way. Very intriguing!
His agent is listed as "herald" in the character list. The agent represents angels in general, being that they were the heralds of "god's word" in the bible. I don't believe the devil is depicted at all in the film.
@@HorkPorkler Satan was actually an angel of music before he fell from heaven, so I could see either of your theories making sense.
@@sarahlawrence599 The name Lucifer means bringer of light. Wasn’t he an angel of light?
@@MFLimited hes often referred to in Scritpure as the “morning star” so his name definitely has connotations with light. he was a cherub, beautiful, and believed to be one of the highest ranking angels. the idea of him being a musical angel 28:13. it’s not a super clear thing tho
Excellent analysis!
Although, I can't help but picture a moose in a recording studio reading this.
It’s a living 😏
@@WoodsToLiveBy I can just see the Flintstone's elephant vacuum when I read that. hahah.
Only after watching this video, and the movie itself more than a few times, did I finally realize that she took the yellow powder again each time more humans showed up or were about to. But honestly it's an amazing movie and such a breath of fresh air compared to the absolute garbage that is most modern movies. And great video, as well.
But at the end she trew it away and most of the people came only after that
What do you think about the yellow powder - what is it? I thought maybe it's sun/sunshine (as nature/our planet needs it to thrive)?
@@xXNekou I honestly don't know.
the best analysis of this movie to be found on youtube! such an underrated video and narration
Phenomenal job. Make more. Make a channel just for movie analyses. You are one of the best I've ever come across. I could watch hours of these kinds of videos. Thank you for this one.
Thank you so much! I would love to do more, especially with my wife; she and I were analyzing the finer points and deep philosophy of both It's a Wonderful Life and Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas today (this being the Christmas season), and I thought, we could make a podcast or a CZcams Channel of this. But we both have so many other things going on, and my audiobook career pays so much better than a fledgling CZcams channel would. ;)
I might do another sometime. I just felt so moved at the time Mother! was released that it desperately needed a breakdown/analysis, since so many people were clearly missing the metaphors. I figured out what Aronofsky was doing about ⅓ of the way thru my 1st viewing, and once I knew what he was getting at, the film became magical to me. I just wanted more people to have that experience and figured a video like this might help them along if they didn't discover it on their own.
@@WoodsToLiveBy i agree i would love to watch more movie breakdowns from you and now especially its a wonderful life
@@WoodsToLiveBy you mentioned your audio book career and now that i think about it did you do the audio book the zodiac ? I just finished it and it sounded like the same voice as this video lol
@@Quack_attack_ Alas, that's not me :)
@@WoodsToLiveBy lol ok well keep up the good work an hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas
Wow... I'm only part way through and am completely enthralled, so I had to write this while I could remember my point.
I felt the shaming of women began the instant that Eve arrived.
She seemed to have an instant petty dislike of Mother for no reason.
From a story point of view, I felt this besmirched woman-kind, intentionally, but not by any bias of the writer/director, but more a point akin to the Bible's view.
cheers.
I don’t have words to describe how great your analysis was. I hope you do more of these for such movies.
Hands down the best analysis of Mother! on CZcams. Excellent job.
Thank you for a thorough and well thought out analysis, best I've seen yet!
You're voice is like a rich creamy butter for my ears. And your analysis was brilliant. I now have to watch this film again with your thoughts in mind.
There’s a part in the fever dream where a soldier opens mother’s mouth. Another soldier asks “how’s that one, Angel?” He replies “tainted,” and they ignore her. Then soldier one says “check that goyim,” referring to an offscreen person. I think it was some kind of rapture going on by actual angels.
Good catch!
I believe those were the Russian sex traffickers he refers to
Thank you for posting this! Just watched the film for a second time and it feels quite cathartic to hear your analysis.
I need to watch it again.
Just before you explained who you are I was about to write a comment in my appreciation of your professional audiobook-style and how well I could follow your points eventhough I was cleaning which usually means that I can't really concentrate. I enjoyed hearing you out very much!
I understand the movie now. Thank you. I knew watching it there were meanings I couldn't grasp. Now that I know all this, I can appreciate the movie. Viewing number 2 coming up!
So glad you appreciated it!
Your analysis is so well done. Right after I watched the movie i looked up for some clarification on YT. Your vid was the best. Also, you voice and the manner of speaking are perfect. Thank you.
The way you broke this down got me to instantly subscribe. I know I’m late lol just watched this movie in 2020, but yeah this is a very good analysis!
Thank you! I don't create a lot of content for CZcams as audiobooks are my full-time gig, but when I do, I try to make it good.
I love this movie. I've seen it several times. Thanks for the work you put into this! Awesome video and great voice.
Best analysis I’ve seen of this movie!
I feel a little insulted because through the whole movie I didn't pick up on much and I viewed it literally, and as such had trouble understanding what was going on. Allegory is almost always lost on me as I tend to take things at face value.
One thing I did think about was the yellow drink. I wonder if it's supposed to represent the sun, as nature is almost completely self-sufficient except for its dependency on the sun.
This analysis is fantastically put together, the scene of mother being beaten was so disturbing to watch, it looked so real
This movie is phenomenal
This needs more views. You're awesome Paul.
I just watched this movie not too long ago, great masterpiece! And tbh you’re so underrated as an film analyzer
"they don't get on like a house on fire"... REALLY?!?!?!
I think I'm entitled to at least one Dad joke in a 40 minute video ;)
Not so in my view, Age of Chaos, Age of Law, Age of Grace. and next?
@@WoodsToLiveBy r u a dad lol??
I just watched again today after digging into aronofsky and I loved it. Your analysis was lovely and helps start a really deep conversation about the movie
Ok, finally people like me that loved this movie. My thoughts… the movie can only be understood in the context of the Robert frost poem “Only gold can stay.”
The “yellow” powder mother employs throughout the movie is NOT yellow but GOLD the symbol in the poem for change and new birth. This entire movie is a dramatization of that poem. It goes like this…
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Watch the movie again and count how many times green and gold are shown together, once you pay attention to that the movie makes total sense.
I think its sunshine, which is gold… even in the poem the “gold” is very obliviously the sunrise. Mother eating sunshine makes sense, since she needs sunshine to grow and heal (shes Mother Nature after all!)
Why would she need gold? Gold is just another element, it’s only precious to man because man believes in it’s own propaganda of scarcity 😂
I absolutely love the satan reference. I was wondering about the significance of the guy trying to lure her away. I agree with you on that and don’t think it’s a stretch.
Late to the party here 👋🏼 Just watched the movie for the first time. I’ve read a lot of comments in explanatory videos but the sad thing is no one seems to talk about the travesty we impose upon Mother Earth. The movie represented it so well. I felt shame as a human. We don’t deserve Mother Earth, look what humans have done to her. Look at what we do to each other.
Great movie (when u understand all the meaning behind it).
Why is this the only video you made??? Great stuff, my gf said "he really liked mother"
Best movie analysis I've ever watched.
I think the third time we see a new mother, we are seeing the third monolithic religion. The three major religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all contain a progression of the story of God, with each building upon the rest. I think the new mother will represent Islam and Him will learn very little from his past mistake (also represented in the slight change to Mother) and make some changes in his writings to progress the story for a bit longer.
Excellent analysis. Especially the 3rd part. Very few reviewers got all the meanings. That s why most of them, panned the movie.
Wonderful and in depth analysis/synopsis 👌🏾
Beatifull analisys
I catched almost all of what you said here on a first watch and was really happy to find more references i miss. Thank you for your work
Also great voice
your voice is PERFECT for narration gosh
That was FANTASTIC!
The Kristen Wiig casting was so spot on lolol
The only time I thought of the Bible was the brothers, I thought Cain and Abel but …. no other things were picked up for me. I tried to think of all the side characters names like Zealot, fool, jester and figure out the meaning but no luck. Until I hear this and I totally now see it. I’ll need to watch it again.
Finished.
Great, great analysis in an easy to listen to cadence. No wonder you are a book narrator.
38:40 I look forward to this.
cheers MB.
#74
the woman trying, and failing, to get her son to the toilet in time: hagar and ishmael?
KEvron
That’s a really interesting thought.
@@MFLimited
doesn't seem like the kind of thing he'd just throw in there. the only bible story i can think of which might map onto that scene would be proto-islam.
KEvron
Basically the Movie is '' Mother nature hates Mankind loves God. God loves Mankind and (ab)uses Mother Nature. Mankind loves God and (ab)uses Mother Nature''
Some of mankind does not like God and also abuses Mother Nature (see the people who were worshipping somebody else and sprayed mace in God‘s face)
The 'Zealot' (Stephen McHattie) is the man who annoints the foreheads and he *does* get stabbed by Mother before raising the Cain/Abel doorknob to strike her down.
Being known as the Zealot completely fits as your view of it being the Catholic church.
Some people actually saw him as the Devil; which to me isn't far off from your seeing it as the Catholic church. (see Galileo) ;)
cheers MB.
Another reason why the zealot became the Roman Catholic Church is because, after being smeared with ink by God, he took it upon himself to mark people with ink as a representative of God. Believing himself to be somebody that God worked through
This is a great movie. I think of it often… I hated the way Mother was never respected, only used for whatever they could get from her
During the "ash wednesday" scene the woman is speaking italian, not spanish. Awesome analysis btw
Mother! or Jennifer Lawrence's embodiment of nature, earth, etc. is at one point referenced as "an angel" by the Russian traffickers.
Excellent analysis!
Brilliant analysis!!
This is a brilliant analysis of a brilliant movie!
I think this movie is totally brilliant. Disturbing, yeah sure, but also just unique and special, and with a messge so often overlooked. I watched it 3 times already.
Just watched the movie yesterday. Amazing analysis. Certainly the best ive seen over this movie
Thanks for your analysis
Excellent analysis 👍
This is probably one of my top 2 favorite movies of all time and I must say, you very much did it justice. I lost count of how many times I've seen it yet I actually learned some stuff in your video. I'd be curious if you had an interpretation of what that 'thing' was in the toilet soon after 'Adam' arrives at the house. Anybody free to give me their interpretations
@@ChrisDeVeraTV No, I don't think so. They showed the gash on 'Adams' sidewhere the rib was removed during the scene where Bardem was helping him in the bathroom as he vomited. The thing in the toilet was kinda bulbous looking, like a cross between a squid and a blowfish. Just like a ball of flesh, not bone. But thanks for the guess :)
Amazing mind changing movie and the best possible analysis.
Great job, thank you.
There's still one thing I don't quite get: at the beginning of the movie, when mother's in the basement, she looks at the dark corner of the room, as if something were there. She repeatedly looks at the stove and the wall, and then a boom comes from behind it, scaring her. Later in the movie, when Abel is slain and his blood reveals the shape of a hidden door, she carves the dirt out and opens it, revealing a dark room and a frog jumping out of it. What is the room ultimately supposed to represent? Is it an allegory to the Pandora's box?
My interpretation.
I separated the house into layers, the study is Eden, the stairway some elevated, or sacred places or state of mind i am just guessing here, it has importance in the movie and Mother keeps kicking people from up there.
Ground floor is earth's ground, so the basement for me was underground with the boiler as earths core water pipes, valves, stone and even further if you dig deeper behind the hidden door earths natural resources like oil.
When Eve enters there with Mother she says "a lot of tools" you know for Mother to work with.
This is taken from the script
"KITCHEN
Where MINING-LOOTERS attack the floor, tear into the house’s foundation."
The stain is cursed memory of first murder it disappears and returns with people it also gets worse with more people, more bloodshed [ digging into ground for resources, murdering for them waging wars for resources ] which leads to mother opening a can of whoop ass on us with one disaster or another.
I have no clue what the frog should mean. ;p Dinosaurs?
@@KaraokeNig Frog could subtley represent one of the Biblical plagues, that may have been inserted randomly and out of context to the metaphorical story context, but that's really just a guess and honestly a bit of a stretch.
cheers B.
At the beginning of the movie, the noise comes from the hidden boiler room, but not knowing yet that the room exists Mother can only assume the noise came from the room she's in. I don't think the boiler room functions to symbolize anything in particular, but note it was obviously hidden for a reason, likely to try to prevent the current cycle's mother from starting a fire there again. We could try to identify the room with an underworld or with Earth's oil reserves, but I think both are too much of a reach.
This is great. I was getting frustrated with the reviews because everyone is regurgitating this biblical stuff without any context. This explains in perfect detail. I didn’t recognize anything religious on the first watch and still loved it! I can see how this is the directors original meaning; although, I wish I heard more discussion on a micro scale, like some of the themes about society and the world in general. I guess the Bible allegories make the most sense tho!
Very well done.
oh my... congratulations, you're such a great movie analyst! Nice job, I think you got everything covered. I just have one question left: what do you think/interpret about that piece of bleeding meat that Mother flushes down the toilet, before she finds God's picture in Adam's bag? And I'm not sure if it actually happened or if it was just my imagination... but did "it" squeal before it was gone?
One thing I noticed is that after the birth of Jesus there's a ticking cristaline sound on the background. It starts the moment the baby is born and stops when he is presented to the crowd. I counted 114 or 115 "beats", I could be wrong on the exact number but it's somewhere around that. I just don't know what to make of it. I'd love to hear some ideas!
The crystal of love makes that sound too.
Would've been good to hear a follow up to this excellent dissection.
The carpet has an octagon
great explanation
octagon on the cast iron!
Excellent!!
You have a great voice
are there any movies like this that you would recommend? incredible job
I think the yellow tincture represents the Sun.
Thank you! Request... Can you please analyze the Netflix series Maniac??
Mary Giannone Possibly, as soon as I get around to watching it
What do you think about the yellow powder - what is it? I thought maybe it's sun/sunshine (as nature/our planet needs it to thrive)?
The powder isn’t yellow, is gold.
please do another interpretation!
Now This is an analysis
❤ I love your narration. It seems like God is insane because he keeps doing the same things over and over and over! ❤
Thank you.
When Mother has labor pain is there shaking like an earthquake?
Did u make more videos on this movie?
How is this your only video essay????
Have a 100 like thank you for explaining the movie
Damn, I can't believe how much of that stuff went completely over my head... Thanks for making this video dude, it's incredibly insightful and just what my slow-ass braincells needed ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ
wow this is epic
nice!
How about the oil in the hidden room???
A representation of actual oil, underground, only revealed by man's sin & greed???
Also, the bee/insect that dies on the window sill???
Well, oil has brought us to ruin, and through our greed we are killing the insects 🤷♀️
Only He knows the Process and we "Choose" the procedure.
I always thought of the masterpiece as the 10 commandments as the new testament is taking place after jesus was born and would be what happened to the baby.
Also when god talks on the phone he says something like "did he like it?" This could be moses, who then brought it to the people.
This is probably the better interpretation. I've thought of this since making the video, but didn't make an update or anything. :)
Yes! I thought that too. Because he would not have written the new Testament before the birth of Jesus. It was just a time jump.
The masterpiece was definitely the 10 Commandments. Simple rules that meant, if they were obeyed, old people could be there in peace. It didn’t work
❤ I love your narration. It seems like God is insane because he keeps doing the same things over and over and over!
audiobook voice seems created specifically to put me to sleep. And I'm actually interested in the topic.
The painters represented people who claim to be environmentally minded because they recycle, the painters are painting walls as the house literally falls apart. The color used matches the recycling logos used globally. I don't agree remotely that the glass piece is the apple the OP so strongly thinks it is, it represents the love of creation for God which is destroyed by mankind. This is actually spoon fed to us at the end of the movie, God once again shows adoration is more important than anything else. I would posit that alcohol (if anything) represents the apple more than anything I saw in my viewing.
there was a part in the second party where a man touched mother and someone asked him ‘how’s the angel?’ and he replied ‘tainted’ what are ur thoughts on that ?
Not to jump in on a question that is not asked of me, but I figure one year later, I'm okay.
My take on it was that she was pregnant, thus 'tainted'.. not a virgin.
The other view could be that it was a direct comment on Earth... 'tainted'.
cheers s.