Like the director’s surname, Lukas Moodysson’s Mammoth is very, very serious. You can tell because there are several overlapping plot lines, one of which has subtitles. You can almost see Moodysson’s thought process: “It worked for Crash and Babel, and they didn’t address child prostitution like I do – Oscars shall be mine!” But the film’s depiction of capitalism’s erosion of the family unit is so heavy-handed that any emotional or affecting moments are undermined by the transparency of Moodysson’s intentions.
Ellen is an E.R. doctor who has more contact with her patients than her daughter, who spends all her time with their Filipino nanny, who lives thousands of miles away from her sons, who consider working in the sex industry to make enough money to bring their family back together, much like the Thai prostitute Cookie, who tries to seduce Ellen’s husband Leo, who hates the idea but is tempted because he’s miles away from Ellen – are you getting that all the characters are isolated, and that their work and focus on money is not only destroying their spirit but their relationships? Would you like each one of the characters explicitly say as much, repeatedly? You’re welcome.
Moodysson’s first English language feature isn’t a complete failure. The cast all put in solid performances, particularly Michelle Williams as the restless Ellen, and Gael Garcia Bernal brings a hyper energy to the unbelievably naïve Leo. The landscapes and lifestyles of New York, Thailand and the Phillipines are beautifully shot and contrasted, and there are some wonderfully ironic moments, like when nanny Gloria picks out a basketball to send home to her sons, only to find a ‘Made in the Phillippines’ label on it.
But apart from the sledge-hammer approach to the film’s central theme, Moodysson also unforgivably equates the woes of a millionaire American couple to that of single Asian mothers struggling to ensure their children don’t have enter the sex trade to survive. Rumour has it that in Moodysson’s next feature, Bono asks Ethiopia to throw him a benefit concert because the recession halved the resale value of his Parisian pied-à-terre.
Unoriginal, preachy and overwrought, this award bait’s dead in the water.