My Mother's Smile

Name: My Mother's Smile
Director: Marco Bellocchio
Released: 2002

Synopsis

A celebrated painter receives a visit from a cardinal's assistant, who informs him that his mother could become a saint.

100
Christian Science Monitor
This superbly filmed Italian drama stands with Bellocchio's best work. Originally titled "Ora di religione."
83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It's messy and unsettled, but Bellocchio's distaste for the cynicism and mendacity is potent and sincere.
80
Chicago Reader
In his best film in years, Marco Bellocchio crafts a stringently moral tale that carries a hint of horror.
80
Village Voice
"A very odd thriller" is how Italian director Marco Bellocchio describes My Mother's Smile, his uncannily beautiful and deeply humanist exploration of the nightmares that resurface from a Roman atheist's Catholic childhood.
80
The New York Times
Though the narrative is spotty, and occasionally confounding, there is an epic warmth in the way it's rendered.
70
Variety
In the central role, Castellitto's powerfully focused performance manages to keep the complex drama grounded.
70
The New Republic
At the last, My Mother's Smile conveys that, if Bellocchio is just doggedly hanging on to a career, he is still able to make us feel nostalgia for those high Italian days.
70
The A.V. Club
As absurd as the situation gets--and the film occasionally launches into surreal asides that only heighten the absurdity--director and star both keep it grounded in the situation's emotions.