Dear Mother...

'His heart has stopped. He is not dead, he can walk and talk, but his heart is no longer beating.'

Picture It, the Internet, early 2020.   Forums devoted to the male form in cinema are a buzz that studly French actor Laurent Lafitte is going to be writing and directing his first feature film.  Well, why all the on-line chatter, many successful actors have transitioned to directing and Lafitte has worked steadily in front of the camera from almost 35 years.

The buzz came from the fact that the project chose Lafitte chose as his directorial debut was L'origine du monde, (Dear Mother) and in addition to writing and directing, he would also be starring in the film.  Oh, and I did I mention, he'd also be going full frontal for the first time.  Now Lafitte is not a complete stranger to on-screen nudity, but thus far, it's only been his beefy buttocks audiences have enjoyed on the big screen.

What is so spectacular about the nude scene in Dear Mother is the creatively absurd reason for the nudity.  So often in American cinema, directors go out of their way to keep men in their pants, even during intimate love scenes.  Dear Mother didn't need to show everything in this scene, they could have done implied and still been effective.  But.. showing it all, given the context of the story, and the relationship of the scene, made it even more impactful, and even more hilarious.

So 'bare' with me, the set-up of the story, and the nude scene is a little confusing.  Like most French farces, it's a comedy of errors and exits and entrances from a room.  When Jean-Louis discovers his heart is no longer beating, he works to understand what exactly is going on..

Part of the process takes him to a holistic coach named Margaux.  Jean-Louis is forced to face taboos surrounding his mother.  Margaux shares that the the only way to get his heartbeat back is to take a picture of the place from where Jean-Louis arrived into this world... his mother’s vagina.

Given Jean-Louis hasn't really had much contact with his mother in years, he decides just asking her for a picture of her vagina isn't the best idea.  After a few missteps, he and friends come up with a 'fake' holiday they hope with help get mom out of her sweater and bloomers.  Jean-Louis invites his mom over to help celebrate 'Neighbors Day', a made up holiday in which everyone gets naked for the celebrations.

Without telling her why, Jean-Louis and friends strip down and then encourage ole mom to do the same thing.  Let's just say she's reluctant. The scene is the hilarious and the movie very creative. If you want to see the full scene, and the full film, it's available on Netflix.  Thanks to xyzpdq for the clip!