Only those who experience motherhood know how challenging, exhausting, stressful, but absolutely rewarding and exciting it can be. Only those who live the day to day of maternal life know what it's like to be a mother. But, it doesn't hurt to try to show other people everything that happens, right?
In fact, in addition, watching other experiences and stories can be educational and reflective even for the mothers themselves, who will be able to learn from other women what to do, or not to do. That's why Eu Sem Fronteiras has separated five films that deal with motherhood in different ways, and at different times. It's a great way to learn not only about motherhood, but also an opportunity to see the evolution of society in front of mothers.
I Don't Know How She Makes It (2011)
With the famous Sarah Jessica Parker starring as the protagonist Kate Reddy, the comedy tells the story of this modern woman, who seems to multiply her time a thousand times to manage to divide it between family and professional career. Kate suffers from not having more time for her husband and children, due to her career.
The comedy, directed by Douglas McGrath, features other great actors such as Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear and Christina Hendricks. Released in 2011 on North American soil, the 115-minute duration shows a romantic comedy that portrays the lives of many women today, who work outside the home, educate and raise children, take care (or not necessarily) of a loving relationship and , of course, look after themselves.
A Mother in Trouble (2009)
A 'Motherhood', or 'Motherhood', in its original title, is a dramatic comedy with text and direction by Katherine Dieckmann and starring Uma Thurman. She lives the role of Eliza Welsh, a busy fiction writer, blogger, married mother of a six-year-old girl and a boy who is still learning to talk and walk.
The entire film takes place in a single day in Eliza's life, completely hectic, but for her it's a normal day: she's preparing her daughter's sixth birthday party, taking care of her youngest son, trying to socialize with the mothers in the playground, taking care of her blog, talking to her best friend (Sheila, played by Minnie Driver) and, as if that weren't enough, she enters a magazine contest, in which she has to write a 500-word text about the that motherhood represents in your life.
Vera Drake's Secret (2004)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RODwizQmkwg
Despite being a controversial subject, it is necessary to talk about abortion. And that's the subject of the movie 'Vera Drake's Secret', from 2004. The film takes place in London, in the year 1950. Vera Drake (played by Imelda Staunton) is married to Stan (Philip Davis) and has two children. , Sid and Ethel (played by Daniel Mays and Alex Kelly, respectively).
Vera is officially a cleaning lady, but clandestinely she also carries out the unpaid activity of helping young women to have an abortion. Everything was going well, until a girl she was seeing had to go to the hospital for complications in the procedure and, from then on, Vera's secret begins to be unraveled by the police.
The 125-minute feature film tells the true story of Vera Drake, who lived in post-World War I England and who, when her secret is revealed, sees her world fall apart.
The Panic Room (2002)
Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) is a recently separated woman and the mother of Sarah (Kristen Stewart), a diabetic teenager. During their first night in the new house, Meg and Sarah are surprised by three burglars. When they realize the men's presence, the two go to a secret steel-lined room in Meg's room, bulletproof and impossible to break into.
Although the two are safe, Sarah soon realizes that her blood sugar is dropping and there is no insulin in the room they are in. So her mother decides to risk her own life to save her daughter. The film is North American, is 108 minutes long and has a rating of 14 years.
12 is Awesome (2003)
'12 Is Awesome' is a movie known around the world. The comedy deals with the story of Tom and Kate Barker, played by Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt – both geniuses of American comedy. After they got married, children started coming… until the number reached 12! That's right, 12 children!
You can imagine the routine of these parents, right? Crazy! Mainly because they have children of all ages, so they have to deal with all phases at the same time, from the first years of life of some to the adolescence of others, it's not easy! To top it off, Kate receives an offer she can't refuse to go to New York to launch her book. Only 15 days away from home turn the place into complete chaos, until the whole family realizes that it's impossible to be without the most important part of the team: the mother.
The films chosen for this article approach motherhood in absolutely different ways. From miscarriage to raising 12 children at the same time, all these productions certainly have something to teach each of us.
Text written by Giovanna Frugis from the Eu Sem Fronteiras Team
