What exactly is Martin ??


A demon of some sort ??

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It's all allegorical..Don't try to make literal sense of it.
It's based on the myth of Iphigenia that was demanded as a sacrifice of Agamemnon because he killed a sacred deer.
I see it as sort of representing the sins of the father and the innocents that are always made to pay...as in war and in many other ways people seek revenge by targeting the innocent.
It's as old as time and still just as unjust.

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why shouldn't it be taken literally? It's in a literal setting and language. And even applying your interpretation, it's still banal and just not interesting.

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No one said it was interesting.
I sure didn't.
You are allowed to take whatever meaning you can from it..It's a film so it's up for grabs.
Personally, I didn't find it that interesting but it is based on mythology and Martins ability to jinx the family has no rational explanation. The way they all behave and speak takes it to a level that defies reality.
If you must take it literally then good luck. Martin's ability will never be explained..Take from it whatever your imagination will allow you. Or maybe let it be meaningless.

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but how can you not take it literal? the language of the movie, the editing, it all is rooted in reality. That is the problem with charlatans like the director of this film, they don't even understand cinematic language.

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Interesting... I wonder if another director would have taken the same story, same basic movie plot and concept, but added elements of magic realism... It could be interesting... Even a couple of surreal scenes, would really change the film...

It's a very different movie, but "The 9th Life of Louis Drax" deals with a realistic concept, but takes a magical realism approach in a big way, but it works there as it is told from the perspective of a child...

This is one thing that "Mother!" did better, even though it is arguably flawed in other ways, is that you know pretty early that something is off and doesn't add up... You have mystical objects, strange yellow substances being consumed and such and the whole movie is told from a very subjective point of view with Jennifer Lawrence's character being in nearly every frame and the editing gives it a dream/nightmare like feeling...

But overall, i think the director of this movie was generally successful in what he set out to do and his choices do seem intentional... Yes, the ultra-realistic style is jarring considering Martin's ability to set up the situation for the doctor's family and there is probably a better way of filming this while maintaining the real consequences of the doctor's choices, but it isn't so jarring that the movie fails...

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I guess I may be ignorant of true examples of metaphorical films. It just seems weird to me like if it's metaphorical why use phones and stuff like that and on top of that make it magical. I don't know, it's strange to me.

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I found the combination of realism and this “curse” or whatever it was to be quite powerful.

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I think Martin is just a kid, but, somehow, is able due to his trauma to inflict this choice on the doctor...

I think we are meant to take it for granted that he is able to do so and not to attribute anything else mystical to the movie... I don't think we are meant to think of the film as allegorical. I think we're meant to take the choices the doctor and his family are faced with at face value, as real, literal choices...

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I think he's just a kid. The "demon" part was more an allegory for sins or punishment, or something. The actor purposefully acts like a normal awkward teenager, never giving off a hint that he is something sinister or spiritual. I think that element is brilliant; the character Martin is simultaneously the angel of death and just a normal kid who wants a father.

He has scenes where he is romantically involved with the daughter but others where he doesn't care for her and won't help her. There's a scene where he accepts death and even invites it, yet when given the chance to escape it, he does. He seems to genuinely care about the family but feels nothing for them when they are dying. It's almost like he's playing two characters, except he is only playing one, but with some dialogue of another character. I'm not that smart so it's hard for me to explain myself or even understand it, lol. But that's what I got from Martin.

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Good analysis thank you

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