Harvey Weinstein has praised Mother! for being “The Holy Grail” of original work.
The Academy Award-winning film producer and co-chairman of The Weinstein Company, alongside his brother Bob, has penned an essay for Deadline sharing his thoughts on director Darren Aronofsky’s latest project, starring his real-life girlfriend Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer and Ed Harris.
It hasn’t been well received, with the violence and controversial subject matter addressing environmental issues making it the worst wide-release opening of Lawrence’s career, but it appears Weinstein is a big fan.
“Mother! is another one of these movies that will live forever. Critics and audiences lament the fact that there isn’t any new, daring or original work out there. If that’s the case, then this is The Holy Grail of original, yet it works its magic in a genre that is as old as movies itself – horror,” he gushed to the website, likening watching it to seeing Roman Polanski’s controversial horror Repulsion for the first time during a college film class.
“Something happened in that University of Buffalo classroom – the film produced a near-physical reaction amongst my peers. The whole class was entirely, totally freaked out. Half the room loved it, the other half hated it.”
He also deemed Mother! “the ultimate writer’s block movie”, admitting the tale had him “hanging off the basket rim” like basketball player Stephen Curry.
Weinstein took the time to address the strong performances too, notably Lawrence, who he notes he’s prejudiced about as he has and always will think she’s “great”.
He’s also happy letting his 14-year-old daughter Ruth watch Mother!, despite it being rated R.
“I’ve told her that it certainly is intelligent, but remains accessible; it’s not the kind of allegorical film that should alienate viewers, but rather engages them in its conversation,” he added.
Ending his piece, Weinstein insisted to readers that Aronofsky is “brilliant, as is his film” and he deems the story of Mother! as a terrifying yet important one about “women and men, the creative process and its victims”.
