La Mère

Aboard a train heading towards an unknown destination, a Russian mother recounts her life with her nine children. After fleeing a violent husband, she worked in a kolkhoz with her eldest daughter, while struggling to raise her children. Despite her devotion, she regretfully notes that her sons aren’t very different from the brutish men she has known. Feeling sympathy for a young boy neglected by his family, she then gave him hospitality for a time. A harrowing, raw documentary revolving around a Mother Courage figure caught up in social determinism.