Mammoth (2009)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | mammoth |
| Original title | Mammoth |
| Country of production | Sweden , Denmark , Germany |
| original language | English , Tagalog , Thai |
| Publishing year | 2009 |
| length | 120 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Lukas Moodysson |
| script | Lukas Moodysson |
| production | Lars Jonsson |
| music |
Linus Gierta Erik Holmquist Jesper Kurlandsky |
| camera | Marcel Zyskind |
| cut | Michal Leszczylowski |
| occupation | |
| |
Mammut (original title Mammoth ) is a Swedish-Danish-German film drama by the director and screenwriter Lukas Moodysson from 2009 .
action
Ellen and Leo Vidales are a successful couple who live in New York City . Leo is a passionate computer gamer who has turned his hobby into a profitable profession with an internet platform. Ellen works as a surgeon in a understaffed hospital and, also because she works in shifts, has little time for their daughter Jackie, who is mainly looked after by the housemaid Gloria. Gloria comes from the Philippines , where she left two sons. Their work in New York should ensure them a better future. But the sons suffer from the mother's absence.
Leo has to go on a business trip to Thailand with his business partner Bob . His only job is to sign a multi-million dollar contract there. On the outward flight, Bob receives an expensive ballpoint pen with a mammoth ivory insert. Once in Bangkok , however, the negotiations drag on and Leo begins to get bored. His wife Ellen advises him by phone to use the time for a short vacation. He then flies to the island of Ko Samui .
In New York, Ellen is tormented by an emergency. A little boy is brought in with knife wounds, which his mother inflicted on him, which also puts Ellen psychologically stressed. In Thailand, Leo meets the prostitute Cookie. He gives the girl money so that she can go home that evening and not have to buy anymore. The next day she visits him in his beach house and starts to show Leo the country as a tour guide. The two get closer and spend the night together. The next morning Leo leaves the sleeping Cookie and flies back to Bangkok.
In the Philippines, the longing for the mother drives the older son to look for work. However, the attempts initially fail. When he hears from his grandmother about boys who only earn their money by "sleeping" with strange men, the boy sees an easy way to get money. The money is supposed to speed up the mother's return. At night he sneaks out of the house and is actually approached by a man on the street. The next morning the boy is found seriously injured.
Meanwhile, Ellen fights for the life of the injured boy in the hospital in New York. She operates on him a second time, but the boy dies during the operation. At home, Gloria receives a call from the Philippines with bad news about her son. She leaves New York on the spot and returns home. Cookie sings a lullaby to her child, an infant, on the phone. The next morning Leo comes back and offers to take daughter Jackie to school. The couple want to look for new care for Jackie.
Reviews
“Mammut is a skilful piece of film craft. The film is thwarted by good intentions, clever thoughts and an admirable eagerness to tell something of such weight. "
"Even if Mammut does not quite achieve its goal, the content is strong, the commitment warm and the will to be complicated causes it to discuss the surface without being superficial."
"The film strolls through the misery of the world at a leisurely pace and tasteful images, interlacing its predictable stories in a way that is as tense as it is tense and psychologically superficial."
“What a remarkable film could have been - about the bad conscience of western double earners who defy all necessary self-fulfillment and who are slowly losing touch with their children; or about the destruction of family structures in poorer countries because the parents are scattered around the world for the purpose of work - turns into a global soap. "
“Ultimately, however, Mammut cannot fully exploit this potential and fails because of its own standards. Too many conflicts about too many characters take place in too many places. Above all, the comparison with the obvious example of Babel shows the deficits clearly. "
Awards
The film was invited to the competition for the Golden Bear at the Berlinale 2009 , but did not receive any awards.
Web links
- Mammoth in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- German film website
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for Mammut . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , October 2010 (PDF; test number: 122 127 K).
- ↑ Jens Balzer: From the child care trade . In: Berliner Zeitung . February 9, 2009, accessed December 23, 2016.
- ↑ Jan Schulz-Ojala: A message film as a crusade for children . In: The time . February 9, 2009, accessed December 23, 2016.
- ^ Till Kadritzke: Film review on Mammut . In: critic.de . May 8, 2010, accessed November 30, 2012.