“Mum” is a film of many names. In an interview with the Ann Arbor Film Festival, filmmaker Joesef Ouarrak (“One Summer Afternoon”) revealed some of the titles suggested throughout the film’s production. There’s “Bez Słów,” the film’s Polish title, meaning “without words.” There’s a double entendre of the eventual title “Mum,” both a shortening of mother, suggesting familiarity and childhood, along with its alternative meaning of silence, hinting at the film’s subtext. But the title Ouarrak supposedly favored was a different one: “I Can’t Take it Anymore.” I’ll let the irony of not using that one speak for itself.
The deluge of titles reveals the intricacies present in this Polish production. Set during the second most awkward family gathering of all time, the film centers on the reunion of a mother, Donata (Justyna Szafran, “Zólty szalik”) with her daughters, Anna (Barbara Liberek, “The Partisan”) and Iza, (Wiktoria Kruszczynska, “Queen”) during a family Christmas party. It’s everything its titles suggest; audiences start with very little knowledge of these characters and their motivations. Donata is estranged from Anna and Iza due to an incident from seven years ago that clearly involves their father in some way, but that is all we know. Throughout the film, Donata’s mental state deteriorates due to her recent release from some unspecified facility (implied to be prison? a mental hospital? rehab?) and her reemerging alcoholism. Few details are given to the audience. Exposition absent, the film relies on sparse moments of dialogue in which inferences can be drawn. Eventually, the conflict between Donata and her children worsens, climaxing in Iza’s disappearance.
While Ouarrak’s commitment to subtlety in storytelling and filmmaking is admirable, it often frustrates more than it enlightens. With very little to hold onto as the plot pushes forward, it’s hard not to feel left behind by the film’s techniques: At times, it is difficult to understand what is going on at all. I don’t really know who Donata is, nor her daughters, nor anyone else at this gathering. What drives these people? What is the source of their conflict? Why should I care? By prioritizing the implicit, “Mum” fails to make anything explicit.
The film’s ambiguity extends further to the form in which the story is conveyed. Shot almost entirely with a shaky, handheld camera, the image takes on a claustrophobic effect. This is further enhanced by the color-correction-induced, drab black-and-white wash. For a few moments toward the beginning, the film seems to suggest it may be moving in real time a la “Rope,” an interesting structural tool enhancing the suffocating tension of awkward moments, but eventually, the movie cuts forward in time. There are some interesting shots here, moments in which Ouarrak plays with perspective through windows or simple visual metaphors (such as having Donata reflect on her relationship with her kids through a playset), but ultimately, the visual gimmicks serve to confuse more than elevate the film. Each of these strategies shows a filmmaker attempting to take risks through bold cinematic language, but unfortunately, none succeed in making “Mum” visually unique.
While I have criticized “Mum” up to this point, many elements of this film deserve praise. The main actors, especially the two actresses portraying the daughters, Liberek and Kruszczynska, do an excellent job with the script they are given. They both portray broken people, still hurting from the scars of trauma from long ago, yet each can approach it in their own way that preserves the individual quirks of each character. The music, composed by Joanna Duda, is a minimal and eerie approach consistent with the tone taken by Ouarrak’s filmmaking, and it serves to enhance some of the more dramatic approaches the film takes, especially towards the end. Finally, with the range of difficult topics covered by this movie, from abuse to alcoholism to suicide, it is impressive that Ouarrak can handle the themes with the necessary candor to keep it respectful. He may have left a little bit too much work for the audience to do the interpreting, but Ouarrak has proven with “Mum” that he has the respect to work with such heavy topics.
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is great precisely because it allows for smaller filmmakers like Joesef Ouarrak to gain exposure when they otherwise wouldn’t have. “Mum” is not a perfect movie; it is muddled in its plot and filmmaking, but it does deserve to be shown. While I may not have loved this movie, I’m excited to see what Ouarrak has in store next.
Daily Arts Writer Will Cooper can be reached at wcoop@umich.edu.