Themes: Dysfunctional Families, Kids in Trouble, Parenthood
Main Cast: Michelle Williams, Gael García Bernal, Sophie Nyweide, Tom McCarthy, Marife Necisito, Run Srinikornchot
Release Year: 2009
Country: US
Run Time: 125 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Three years after his "experimental" phase wrapped with the jarring, iconoclastic Container, Swedish enfant terribleLukas Moodysson returned for this sprawling, ambitious social drama. Echoing Alejandro González Iñárritu's Babel and featuring two Hollywood A-listers as his leads, Mammoth also marked the director's premier English-language project. Michelle Williams and Gael García Bernal co-star as Ellen and Leo, New York marrieds; she's an emergency-room surgeon, he's a listless, vaguely dissatisfied Internet game designer. They have a family, albeit an unconventional and dysfunctional one: seven-year-old daughter Jackie (Sophie Nyweide) is practically being raised by a 24/7 Filipino caregiver, Gloria (Marife Necesito), who dotes on her incessantly. This provokes the envy of Ellen and the resentment of Gloria's two geographically estranged sons, Manuel (Martin Delos Santos) and Salvador (Jan Nicdao), who repeatedly phone their mom from Manila and plead with her to come home. Gloria's mother grows so distressed by this behavior that she attempts to show Salvador just how easy his life is in comparison to that of others, which leads to unanticipated tragic consequences. Meanwhile, Leo teams up with a shifty associate, Bob (Tom McCarthy), flies to Thailand, and encounters a freewheeling, laid-back working mother named Cookie (Run Srinikornchot). Step by step, the actions that Leo takes while abroad create a domino effect and alter everyone's lives in irreversible ways. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Jan Nicdao - Salvador; Martin Delos Santos - Manuel; María del Carmen - Grandmother; Perry Dizon - Uncle Fernando; Joseph Mydell - Ben Jackson; Doña Croll - Alice; Caesar Kobb - Anthony; Matthew James Ryder - Colleague of Bob Sanders; Piromya Sootrak - Cookie's daughter; Pasakorn Mahakanok - Pom; Thanita Nitna-na-nan - Pim; Ian Stevens - Boy #1; Rune Kippervik - Boy #2; Peter Tuinstra - Boy #3; Pennapa Udomsin - Masseuse; Ofelia B. Ruivivar - Sari salesperson
Credit
Josefin Asberg - Art Director, Coco Moodysson - Consultant/advisor, Peter Aalbæk Jensen - Co-producer, Maria Kopf - Co-producer, Gunnar Carlsson - Co-producer, Tomas Eskilsson - Co-producer, Denise Ostholm - Costume Designer, James Velasquez - First Assistant Director, Lukas Moodysson - Director, Michal Leszczylowski - Editor, Vibeke Windeløv - Executive Producer, Lene Børglum - Executive Producer, Peter Garde - Executive Producer, Christian Littman - Line Producer, Malte Forssell - Line Producer, Rasmus Thord - Musical Direction/Supervision, Love Larson - Makeup Special Effects, Josefin Asberg - Production Designer, Asa Eriksson - Production Designer, Marcel Zyskind - Cinematographer, Anita Tesler - Production Manager, Madeleine Ekman - Production Manager, Lars Jönsson - Producer, Hans Moller - Sound/Sound Designer, Lukas Moodysson - Screenwriter, Malin Fornander - Script Supervisor, Lidija Aleksandrov - Script Supervisor, Abbe Hassan - Second Assistant Director, Hanne Lassgard - Second Assistant Director, Linda Boije af Gennäs - Key Make-up, Mathias Larserud - Visual Effects, Sean Wheelan - Visual Effects, Hakan Blomdahl - Visual Effects, Sara H. Hellstrom - Visual Effects, Fredrik Averpil - Visual Effects, Andreas Hylander - Visual Effects, Linus Lindbalk - Visual Effects, Joseph E. McLamb - Visual Effects, Emelie Nilsson - Visual Effects
Mammoth is a 2009Swedish fiction film directed by Lukas Moodysson, about a successful New York couple experiencing conditions related to modern day globalization. The couple is played by Gael García Bernal and Michelle Williams, in the roles of Leo and Ellen Vidales. The title refers to the mammothivory pen Leo receives as a gift, and loosely to a quote from one of Moodysson's poetry collections: "Our Savior buried like a Mammoth."[1]
Leo and Ellen are a successful New York couple, totally immersed in their work. Leo is the creator of a booming website, and has stumbled into a world of money and big decisions. He has to board a business flight to Thailand in order to sign a contract. What ensues in the next few days is a critique on the social dilemmas that result from globalization.
New York: Ellen is a dedicated emergency surgeon who devotes her long shifts to saving lives. During her work, she becomes attached to a dying boy who had been stabbed in the stomach by his mother. Leo and Ellen have an eight-year-old daughter named Jackie. Due to her parents' lack of presence in the household, she spends most of her time with her Filipino nanny Gloria, who introduces the girl to her Filipino culture and reads about Jackie's favorite subject, astronomy. Even with the little time that Ellen has for her, Jackie often prefers to be with Gloria, which provokes jealousy on Ellen's part.
Philippines: Gloria has two children of her own, young boys staying in the Philippines with their grandmother. The older boy, Salvador, who misses his mother dearly, makes frequent phonecalls to her and begs her to come home. Salvador tries to find a job so that Gloria does not have to work abroad. One night while on his way home from work, Salvador is lured and molested by a pedophile. Next morning he is found unconscious under a bridge, and is rushed to the hospital. Gloria is informed of this incident and quits her job right away to return to her country.
Thailand: In Thailand, Leo finds out that his colleague has to negotiate additionally, which buys time for him to explore the country. Leo's trip so far has been uneventful. At a club, Leo meets a prostitute named Cookie, and pays her to not have sex with any client that evening. Later on Leo reluctantly has a romantic fling with the girl, but he regrets it afterwards. He has his colleague accept the terms offered, so that he can finish the work and return to his family in the US as soon as possible. We find out at the end that Cookie is a working class single mother who is away from her baby girl.
On 23 January 2009 the film premiered in Swedish theatres. The international debut followed on 6 February at the Berlin International Film Festival, where the audience showed loud dissatisfaction with the film.[3] It will be released in the United States on 20 November 2009 in a theatrical run exclusive to IFC Films' IFC Center in New York City.[4]
Controversy
The film has been attacked in Swedish media for what has been perceived as misogyny. "Working women lead to infidel men and dead children at home as well as at work," journalist Per Gudmundson summarised his interpretation of the film's message in Svenska Dagbladet.[5]
