The Mother (2003)

United Kingdom, 2003

Film
Please note

Sorry, we aren't able to make images or video for this item available to the public online.

Having spent her whole life in the ‘accepted’ role of wife and mother, elderly May appears distant and unaffectionate. Not very loved by either of her two adult children, May and husband Toots travel to London for a visit with the family. On the sudden death of her husband, May has an affair with a man half her age, who is also her daughter’s boyfriend. The film explores contemporary life in London and the way families live with the dynamic of demands of work and relationships. It also proves age is no reason for loss of sexual desire but what about moral ethics?

Content notification

Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.

Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.

How to watch

This work has not been digitised and is currently unavailable to view online. It may be possible for approved reseachers to view onsite at ACMI.

Learn more about accessing our collection

Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

director

Roger Michell

producer

Kevin Loader

production company

BBC Film Unit

Duration

01:52:00:00

Production places
United Kingdom
Production dates
2003

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

319077

Languages

English

English

Audience classification

MA

Subject categories

Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Great Britain - Social life and customs

Drama

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Aged women

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Family - Social aspects

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Single parents

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social role

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Women - Social conditions

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Adultery

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Aged women

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Mothers and daughters

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Old age

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Sexual attraction

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Sexual ethics

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Social role

Feature films

Feature films → Feature films - Great Britain

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Aged - Psychology

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Aged women

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Autonomy (Psychology) in old age

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Death - Psychological aspects

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Identity (Psychology)

Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Old age

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Colour

Holdings

DVD; Access Print (Section 1)

Wikidata

Q1214942

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/95038/ |title=The Mother (2003) |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=29 April 2024 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}