Mamá es boba

A beautiful and tender movie where laugh and tear so wonderfully mix. I just recently saw it and, though made 10 years ago, it sounded so original and up-to-date: laughing at cruelty and feeling at the same time ashamed of yourself for doing it is so human...and sad. If you have a gentle soul and childhood traumas (and who doesn't ?), if you have ever been ashamed of your parents or of yourself (and who doesn't ?) I strongly recommend you to see this heart-breaking movie by Spanish director Santiago Lorenzo. The final scene is just superb and the little boy with his only word spoken at the end of the movie is incredibly touching. A real discovery for me and one of the best films I've seen. I will definitely try and see more movies by this director. Thank you!

Of course the film won't shine at all. The kind of reality Lorenzo is portraiting is matt and rough, as the music score or the photography are limited and plain, as the figures Martín Zamora creates.

The film deals with a generation of artists (like the kid) who grew up struggling against an illiterated society that used to tend to deep stupidity at that time.

Maybe because I'm afraid to tend to nullity as a person, I felt deeply moved by the film, unlike the Spanish audience, who have shown no interest at all about a piece of hardcore realism.

Reminiscent of "Welcome to the Dollhouse" or "Joe, the King," this movie shows how parents contribute to an unhappy childhood. However, "Mamá es Boba" does not measure up to those other films.

The premise is that the mother of the protagonist, Martín, becomes the unwitting accomplice in a local TV station scam whereby she is installed as a newsreader. Martin's mother, Gema Perdulí, is truly awful and everyone laughs at her, not with her.

I really didn't connect with the characters at all: The Martín character was not very well developed as the focus is on his parents. As for the simpleton parents, they too didn't arouse any sympathy. As a consequence, the movie plods on even though it's short(1 hr, 32 min).

Another drawback was that the music and score were dreadful and inappropriate. In short, the film is a disappointment.

Mama es Boba, wich means My Silly Mother is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. The story is told thru the eyes of a kid, (the son of the "silly" mother) who has to put up with everything that happens to his mum & dad, specially the fact that the couple doesn't realize the terrible things that are taking place around them until too late. This is a "very, very sad comedy" as told from the director himself recently at the London Film Festival. And he is totally right. It makes you laugh while watching, but at the very same time you can only feel terrible in the inside. The people who is in the movie -except for the family and a secretary of a tv station that hardly says a few words- they are all very mean, perversous and heartless. This is not a movie with the typical "good guy" and "bad guy" but is rather full of "bad guys" and three inocent wonderful human beings. The film, however, is full of sarcasm, of black humor perhaps, but above all, the very sad thing is that is pretty much like real life. If you have the chance to catch this film, please DON'T miss it! Bravo for the young spanish director Santiago Lorenzo.