Dear J10,
Killing your own son or daughter is such a taboo, that it doesn’t
exist in many films out there. This is perhaps the reason, why it
almost doesn’t appear in cinema that tries to imitate reality, unless
it is “based on a true story” (see “Kaivo” or “A Cry in the Dark” for
example). It appears, predominantly, in cinematic genres that by
definition are unrealistic, and extend beyond the “normal”, genres
that aim at our emotions.
It is especially prevalent in horror films. Perhaps, because it
addresses our inner most fears and Freudian conflicts with our own
parents. In this context, it seems important to note, that mothers are
mostly the dominant parent is these stories, and fathers are absent
from most infanticide stories – and sometimes actually absent from the
family at the time (the father is dead in “Carrie”, absent in “Ringu”
– but the stepfather is the murderer, or drives the women into
murder). Another recurring theme – this time addressing motherly
phobias – is that of the demonic child, who must be killed, in order
that the mother will survive (“Alien”, “Village of the Damned”, Hilde
Warren und der Tod, an Rosemary’s Baby, although no infanticide
occurs).
The Bollywoodian melodrama, as well as other melodramas (especially
from the silent era), stress the deed as a desperate deed of an
already lost soul (“Chahhya”), or as an extreme act of evilness (“The
Awakening of Helena Ritchie”). Only lately there had been a report on
an attempt to deal with a much more realistic problem in the India –
that of female infanticide (because of the preference of males) – in
the Bollywoodian cinema, with an announcement, that director
Priyadarsan plans to shoot a film about (and against) the tradition of
female infanticide in India (See: “Priyan against female infanticide”
Rediff.com <http://www.rediff.com/movies/2003/aug/02news.htm>).
Others link this with religious themes. Sacrificing your own offspring
is, after all, linked to the ancient Abrahamic myth of sacrifice in
the name of God, and for Him. In “A Cry in the Dark”, the mother is
(falsely) accused partly (and some would say, mainly) because she’s a
member of the Seventh Day Adventists. In “Rapture” this is even more
apparent. A murder of a child is “justified”, only amidst greater
issues – that of God itself. In Agnes of God, the heroin uses her
devotion to explain the sin to herself.
Drama
=====
Kaivo (1992) [Finland, was nominated for a prize in the 1992 Cannes
Festival], based on a true story: “a young mother living in rural
isolation […] being charged with having thrown her children down a
well.” (MSN Movie Guide,
http://entertainment.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=49605).
Also based on a true story, in “A Cry in the Dark” (Aus, 1988), an
Australian woman is accused of murdering her baby girl on a camping
trip, and insists – in the words of the memorable quote from this film
- that a dingo ate her baby.
The Rapture (1991) – Sharon (Mimi Rogers) kills her daughter, while
waiting for the rapture to come, and in order to enable her daughter
to be reunited with her father in heaven.
Another religious-infanticide connection is featured in "Agnes of God"
(1985) whereas a nun (Meg Tilly) gives birth to a child, who dies, and
is under police investigation (IMDB description: "At a convent,
fragile, unearthly Sister Agnes gives birth (she says it's a virgin
birth), but the child dies. The police soon are involved because of
the death of the baby. However, the main conflict is between Mother
Superior Miriam Ruth, who wants Agnes left alone, and Dr. Martha
Livingston, a psychiatrist determined to help Agnes gain a stronger
grasp on reality and uncover any wrongdoers."
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0088683/plotsummary). Agnes of God is based
on a play.
In “Leave her to Heaven” (US, 1945), Gene Tierney (who was nominated
for an academy award for this role) plays an obsessed, jealous, woman,
who murders her own son (as well as others who get in the way between
her and her husband) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0037865/
In “Chahhya” (1936), an Indian melodrama
(http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0270273/) “A bank employee who steals
money to buy medicine for his dying wife is caught, jailed and dies of
shame. His eldest son Prakash (Vinayak) publishes a poem in the very
newspaper that publicized his father's crime. The judge (Hardikar) who
convicted Prakash's father gives him a poetry prize and the judge's
daughter Chhaya (Chitnis) happens to fall in love with him. But when
she learnsof Prakash's family history, Chhaya allows her father and
her suitor, Dr. Atul (Pendharkar), to accuse Prakash of molesting her
and sends him to prison. Prakash's destitute sister Kala (Ratnaprabha)
becomes a prostitute to pay for the younger brother Suman's (Marathe)
medical bills levied by the ambitious Dr. Atul. Kala bears a child and
has to kill it.”
According to MSN, the film “Frevel” (1984), is about “an inspector
(Peter Fleischmann, also the director) who loses his grip on the
rational world when he becomes emotionally involved with the worse
kind of murderess -- a woman who killed her own child.”
http://entertainment.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=168590
MSN mentions another film that features the child-murderess as a
temptress (the ultimate Femme Fatale?)– L'étrangère (France 1968), in
which “A pretty blonde woman and a writer meet on a train and strike
up a conversation. He is soon to be divorced, and she is supposedly
running away from ruthless gangsters. The two engage in a passionate
night of lovemaking. Unknown to the man, the girl has killed her own
child and is sought by the police. The writer is blinded by love and
completely oblivious to the evil character of his new girlfriend. The
police slowly close in on the murderess and wait for the train to make
the next stop.” http://entertainment.msn.com/movies/movie.aspx?m=160364
One of the only father-murderers appears in “The Last of the Line”
(silent, 1914, USA) in which “The son of a Native American tribal
chief is sent away to college to receive an education. Despite his
father's hopes, the son follows the lead of his Caucasian classmates
and spends his time drinking and chasing women. When he returns to the
tribe, he begins looting the neighboring merchants and breaks the
formal treaty between the Native Americans and the settlers. Enraged,
his father kills his own son. “
(http://www.hollywood.com/movies/detail/movie/178827).
Frailty (2001) also involves a man who murders his daughter, and again
– as in the cases of films mentioned before – out of religious zeal.
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0264616/
Non si sevizia un paperino (Italy 1972) features – as one of the
characters – a gypsy witch who, according to town’s rumors, killed her
baby.
The Farmhouse (1998), adapted from a play, tells of a woman who
murdered her daughter. http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0120668/
Sohpie’s Choice (1982) – Based on a book. Sophie is forced to choose
between her son and her daughter in the Nazi concentration camps. See
here about Sophie’s Choice and the representation of women in fiction
about the Holocaust:
http://advancement.uark.edu/pubs/inquiry/2003/copeland.pdf
Also based on a book, Beloved (1998), features “Beloved” as one of the
main characters – the dead daughter, who was murdered in order not to
become a slave herself.
A third film – based on a book – that features women in conditions,
where she feels compelled to desert and kill her baby is “Joy Luck
Club” (1993).
Less known is Girl in a Swing (1988) – based on a book. A London art
broker marries his Danish secretary (Meg Tilly, same type of role
again), who hides this horrible secret.
Præsidenten [President, The] (1919) [Denmark, Silent] is based on a
novel, but the year and the country of origin make both the film and
the novel virtually unknown. “The judge in a Danish town sees his
illegitimate daughter facing a trial for the murder of her newborn
child, and is rather sure that she will be sentenced to death. She
became pregnant from an aristocrat who didn't want to marry her. The
same fate happened to her mother, although he wasn't allowed to marry
because of a vow he had given to his father who had to marry under
rank after the girl got pregnant. As expected the sentence for his
daughter is death, he asks for a pardon, but this isn't granted
although he is promoted. So he decides to free her and get her out of
the country at all costs.”
(http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0010598/plotsummary).
Similarly, The Awakening of Helena Ritchie (1916) [also silent, also
based on a novel by Margaret Deland, but today unknown], tells the
story of a “the much-abused wife of a loutish tosspot (Robert
Whittler). When her husband kills her baby in a drunken rage, Helena
escapes into the arms of her former sweetheart, Lloyd Pryor (played by
the "other" Robert Cummings). “ (Blockbuster description,
http://www.blockbuster.com/bb/movie/details/0,7286,VID-V+++236450,00.html).
In “The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (AUS 1978) there is apparently also
an infanticide scene. The movie (based on a book…) tells the story of
an aboriginal who goes on a killing spree, not being able to endure
Australian racism anymore.
Medea
=====
There are several adaptations of Medea. The most famous one was
directed in 1969 by Pasolini and with Maria Callas as Medea. Another
version, set in modern Mexico, is Así es la vida (2000).
Horror
=====
Hilde Warren und der Tod (1917) [silent] – „Hilde Warren, a famous
actress, is impregnated by a convicted murderer and becomes plagued by
visions of an extremely gaunt and sepulchral Death. Upon discovering
her child is the image of its criminal father, Hilde must decide
whether to allow it to live or to kill it and risk the embrace of
Death himself.” (IMDB http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0008099/).
Ringu (Japan, 1988) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0178868/ - a psychic
girl is murdered and thrown to a well, from which the horror evolves.
Was remade as “The Ring” (USA, 2002,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0298130/).
Alien, and especially “Alien: Resurrection” (1997) has Ripley as the
“mother” of the monster it is trying to stop.
Carrie (1976) < http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0074285/> - based on
Stephen King’s novel, Carrie tells the story of “A mousy and abused
girl with telekinetic powers gets pushed too far on one special
night.” (IMDB description). Carrie is stabbed in the back by her
mother.
Other films:
Anthropophagous 2000 (Germany 1999)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0202233/
Beware: Children at Play (1989) < http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0112492/>
Bloodletting (1997) (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0126820/)
Calling, The (2000) “On her wedding night, a young woman conceives a
child during an hallucinatory encounter. Several years later, as her
friends and family begin to behave strangely, she pieces together
clues that lead to one conclusion...her son is the Antichrist!” <
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0218067/plotsummary>
Flesh Eating Mothers (1989) “After sleeping around with the town's
population of mothers, a man spreads a cannibalistic venereal disease
to each woman.” http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0097364/plotsummary
Macabro (1980) [Italy] - http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0080764/
Motel Mountain “Evelyn (Anna Chappell) is an old bitter woman who was
put into a mental hospital back in 1978. In present day 1981 she was
released and now lives with her daughter running a hotel. Within a few
minutes we can tell that Evelyn isn’t fit for society. She begins by
killing one of her daughter’s pets and then she kills her daughter.
She makes her daughters murder look like an accident but the sheriff
(James Bradford) doesn’t buy it.”
Jealous Parent
===========
It is a little hard to label certain films as dealing or featuring
such jealousy, because it might be revealed in almost any filming of
parent-child relationships. Here are few notable examples:
“Ringu” (Japan, 1998), mentioned before, could fit to this category,
too – as the mother is a psychic whose daughter has greater powers
than she does.
Another film with grave consequences to the jealousy is “The Grifters”
(1990). The mom, her son and his lover are all con artists, involved
in a web of deceit and betrayal. http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0099703/
Both “The Grifters” and “Hush” (1998) depict a mother who is jealous
of her son’s relationship with another woman and is willing to destroy
them at any price (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0118744/ )
In “Little Voice” (1998), this jealousy has less mortal effect – a
girl grows up to be very shy – despite a great voice – because of her
mother’s relationships with her (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0147004/).
“Postcards From the Edge” (1990), tells the story of Carrie Fisher,
and as such it also describes the tensions and jealousy between her
and her mother. In “Magnolia” (1999), all sorts of destructive
parent-child relationships are exposed – a parent who is pushing his
child-prodigy, a parent who is accused of neglect of his son, a third
parent who has an estranged daughter.
Another adaptation of a real artist’s life, is “April Showers” (1948),
which resembles the life of Buster Keaton (“who chose after much
consideration not to pursue the matter in court.”) “April Showers
stars Jack Carson and Ann Sothern as a pair of small-time
vaudevillians, whose act gets nowhere until their young son (Robert
Ellis) joins the act. The threesome form a knockabout acrobatic turn
which propels them into the Big Time. Jealous of his son's success,
Carson takes to the bottle, and the act breaks up in a spirit of
mutual recrimination. This being a Warner Bros. musical, the three
family members are reunited for a sentimental climax” (Blockbuster
description, http://www.blockbuster.com/bb/movie/details/0,7286,VID-V++++83881,00.html).
Talented artists seem to have a hard time – another good film on the
subject, although here it is not jealousy, but mere destruction – is
Shine (1996).
Pasolini (who specialised in destructive and sick relationships), was
already mentioned here with his adaptation of Medea. In 1967 he shot
an adaptation of Oedipus Rex (Edipo re
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0061613/ ), on a son of a father who was
so jealous of him, that he tried to kill him.
I hope that answered your question, although at least from the
jealousy/destruction point of view – there are many other films who
could be interpreted as dealing with this subject.
My search strategy, was to search (except on www.imdb.com) with the
following formula:
He/she/His/her + murders/murdered/etc. + son/daughter/baby/child
If you need any further clarifications, please let me know before you
rate/tip this answer. |
