Look at Us Now, Mother!
Film
Review
by Kam Williams
Mother-Daughter
Documentary Chronicles Lifelong Dysfunctional Relationship
Although
Gayle Kirschenbaum
was raised in the comfy confines of suburban Five Towns on Long
Island, her childhood was anything but ideal. Trouble is, she never
felt loved by her mother, Mildred, who favored her three sons over
the daughter she apparently never wanted.
Why
wouldn't a woman want to bond with her only daughter? "I think
she was jealous of you," one of Gayle's sibling's reflects. But
could that explain why the mistreatment had ostensibly started at
infancy?
"I
feel like I'm adopted," reads a journal entry she wrote as an
adolescent. And her mother freely admits to having punished her as a
toddler by giving her time out on top the refrigerator. "She was
a bitchy, little girl growing up," Mildred explains.
Furthermore,
mom wasn't fond of the curly hair and prominent nose which gave Gayle
"an ethnic look." And when you factor in a "loud,
shrill and unpleasant personality," the poor girl was stuck
under the thumb of a hyper-critical Mommy Dearest.
Unfortunately,
for Mildred, her late husband's hobby was making home movies. And
the reams of family footage he left behind are quite damning. There
she is in her forties squeezing into a skimpy bathing suit, doing her
best to upstage her bikinied daughter, radiant and full of the bloom
of youth.
Gayle
gets the last laugh in Look at Us Now, Mother, a documentary
deconstructing their decades-long dysfunctional relationship. The
film features a mix of those old family videos with the present-day
reflections of Gayle, her mom, her brothers and other friends and
relatives.
A
fascinating airing of dirty laundry leading to an overdue
reconciliation between a browbeaten daughter and her merciless
abuser.
Very Good (3 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 84 minutes
Distributor: Kirschenbaum Productions
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