In her second feature film, actress and now director Mirjana Karanović challenges herself, including by showing herself naked both physically and emotionally.
I'm mourning the loss of my grandmother TW
Throughout her legendary career as a film and theatre actress, Mirjana Karanović has never shied away from a challenge. In the melodrama “Mother Mara”, her second feature as director, co-writer and star, she challenges herself to the max, including exposing herself both physically and emotionally naked. Her Mara is a tough, successful businesswoman with platinum curls à la Marilyn Monroe, whose carefully constructed identity falls apart after the death of her 21-year-old son.
Even Mara’s grieving process defies convention. She refuses to stay away from work or weep on the shoulders of others. Instead, she reignites her life force through an affair with a much younger man. Some viewers, who would find it perfectly acceptable if the two leads were gender-reversed, may find the older woman/younger man dynamic implausible, but the performances of the two leads and a late plot twist do a pretty good job of selling it. After a gala world premiere at the Sarajevo Film Festival, the film should move on to other regional festivals.
The film opens with the funeral of Mara’s son Nemanja (Pavle Cemerikić), who once shared her large, modern home, complete with floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking a swimming pool and tasteful, expensive, neutral furnishings. Mara has largely raised Nemanja alone, as her husband left early to start a new family. Despite his heart condition, Nemanja is poised to start a new life, studying at the London School of Economics.
