Son and Filmmaker

            In Mark Rance’s 1978 film Mom, he adopts a point of view that purposely builds tension between himself and his subject.  He begins by observing details of his mother’s life with relative subtlety and unobtrusiveness.  Slowly, as his role as the filmmaker interferes with his mother’s expectations of him as her son, Rance’s presence is incorporated more and more into his photographic record.  He then gears the film toward his personal relationship with the subject -- one that is deteriorating perhaps because of suppressed emotions that are only now being exposed and captured on film, perhaps because of the making of the film itself.
            As with the lives of the subjects, the documentarian’s perspective is constantly evolving in Mom.  From the very first shot, although the tone is simply observational, the choices of representation reflect Rance’s opinion of his family members.  The father is seen chasing an annoying moth around the house.  Later while speaking on the phone, he beckons the mother in and out of the kitchen.  Although the audience is barely informed of whom they are watching, special attention is given to the number of times “Mom” enters the kitchen, each movement followed and emphasized as though it were important not to edit them out.  This portrayal eerily reflects the status of a relationship that only near the end of the film is revealed to be problematic.  Rance demonstrates foresight with regard to the subject matter, and a subtle and more powerful progression toward his final idea, rather than directly focusing on the issues and allowing them to be prematurely exposed.
            When the mother moves to an apartment to pursue her career in fashion, Mark Rance follows her both as son and filmmaker.  This is a turning point in the film.  We begin to see glimpses of Mark in the mirror, hear him exchange words with people, and see others make reference to him and his camera.  This functions as a form of sophisticated home video, where the audience not only experiences the mother’s daily routine, but also the son’s experience documenting that routine.  One particularly jarring moment achieves a new level of intimacy between the viewer and the mother:  we see her awakening, half-dressed and graceless, as her son turns on a light while pointing the camera straight at her.  His invasiveness clearly infuriates her, and her complaints also become part of the record.  Rance appears not to be concerned with ethical questions, as he films the subject against her will and even disrupts her functioning because of it.  Neither is he concerned about what audiences will think of him, because most of his ethical choices are displayed clearly in the final edit.  He and his camera are now subjects of the film, interfering with “Mom’s” reality and gradually shifting the tone from observational to interactive and even manipulative.  The manipulation itself is not concealed, however, as in most films.  Rance’s influence and role as director is even more visible than his role as family member.
            The defining moment in Mom is the subject’s direct confrontation with the filmmaker.  While she talks angrily with Mark, he films her continuously, even as she criticizes his insistence in filming everything including “the toilet seat”.  An accidental metaphor occurs, where the camera runs out of film just as Mom complains about Mark not listening to her.  Eventually, the effect achieved by Rance’s direction is precious.  His persistence, although insulting to his mother, allows her to speak freely for an undetermined amount of time, with only a few comments from Mark himself.  The result is an extensive speech that evolves from a simple argument about a torn shirt to a confession about wanting to leave her family, and a statement about female oppression in America.
            With all the relationship problems between Mark and his mother that are exposed in the film, his ultimate point of view and ethical consideration seems to have been with the legitimacy of the entity herself, “Mom”.  Especially in the final scene, after ignoring all of her wishes, the one thing Mark seems to respect is his mother’s freedom to speak.  He forces her through a grueling process of shedding away her restrictions until she is finally willing to share with him and all audiences, what is deeply and sincerely going through her mind.  One cannot help wondering if “Mom” was at least somewhat appreciative of her son for giving her a voice in a society that had only suppressed it.

 

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