A relação mãe-filho em Eu matei minha mãe: análise winnicottiana

Abstract

In adolescence, a period of personal discoveries, numerous changes and subjective tensions occur. During this period, there is a considerable disinvestment in family relationships and an

investment in exogenous relationships. This article aimed to analyze the ambivalent relationship between mother and son in the movie I Killed My Mother, based on the Winnicottian theoretical framework. This is a qualitative study based on film analysis, whose phases were: identification (choice of work), representation (or description) and interpretation (discussion of the central theme present in the cinematographic work). In the analysis process, four emblematic scenes were elaborated for discussion about the ambivalent relationship between mother and son: In a discussion with his mother at dinner, Hubert treats her with contempt; In a disagreement, Hubert curses at his mother; After a discussion between Hubert and Chantale, her image appears in the coffin, as if it were the fruit of her son’s imagination; The mother hugs her son, who reciprocates the gesture of affection. It should be noted that confrontations and aggressive attacks directed at the mother figure relate not only to aggressiveness, but above all to the ambivalent nature of this relationship, in which the adolescent relates sometimes based on loving impulses (compliments, independent of affection) , sometimes from aggressive impulses (insults, contempt). In the film in question, there is a movement, on the part of the teenager, to test the mother’s ability to support and survive all this hatred and contempt, in the face of the deprivation suffered when her parents separate.

Keywords: Mother-child relationship. Adolescence. Film analysis. Winnicottian theory.