The films "Murmur of the Heart" and "Spanking the Monkey," the components of tonight's Film Society double feature, both deal with a son's strong physical bond with his mother.
"Murmur of the Heart," directed by Louis Malle, is the story of a boy in the process of becoming a young man. Fourteen-year-old Laurent Chevalier is the youngest of three sons of a free-spirited Italian mother and a tight-collared French doctor.
Laurent's brothers attempt to be role models for him as he enters adolescence. They happily have him at their wild parties and even take him to a brothel to let him lose his virginity, albeit unsuccessfully.
But Laurent gets sick with a heart murmur, and as a result he and his mother spend considerable time together. Their relationship strengthens.
Laurent at first becomes jealous of his mother and her lovers, but later accepts the other men in his mother's life. He even consoles her when she and one of her lovers break up.
This strong relationship allows an ending in which the mother is the one who initiates her son into manhood, and Laurent's life is changed considerably.
"Spanking the Monkey," director David O. Russell's first film, is the story of a young man named Raymond Aibelli and his summer after freshman year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Having already landed a prestigious internship in Washington, D.C., Raymond is planning to spend only a few days home. But as soon as he arrives , his father departs on a business trip and leaves Ray to take care of his injured and bedridden mother.
So, instead of having a dream internship, Ray's summer is spent on annoying tasks. Even Raymond's only escape, masturbation in the bathroom, is interrupted by the family dog's barking at the bathroom door.
Both alone and in need, the mother and son, after a night of vodka tonics, have sex. But afterwards, they grow farther apart than before.
