A film director (Margherita Buy),in the middle of trying to do a film, has to deal with the fact that her mother is dying.

The film is inspired by the death of Nani Moretti's own mother, and we can assume that the Buy character represents him, as a movie director dealing with a difficult production, a temperamental and looney actor (John Turturro),and a terminally-ill mother she keeps telling herself is going to recover.

Anyone who has been through this life-goes-on in the face of tragedy scenario will relate to the director trying to deal with her ex-husband, her daughter, her boyfriend, her mother, and the movie - all at the same time. It's a very human story. Unfortunately you can't pick when a crisis will occur, or expect them to come one at a time.

Wonderful acting, especially Buy as her character, Margherita, tries to keep it all together as her leading man, an American who knows Italian, can't remember his lines, the extras all look like movie stars when she asked for normal everyday people, all the while visiting her mother at the hospital and being in denial about her illness.

Very good film.

When your personal life affects your working abilities, it is never good for anybody. But there are things that you cannot influence (some may call them Destiny). When people close to you (and your mother would count into that group for a majority of people),are about to leave your life, there is going to be a lot of emotion involved.

Take that to work, where a star may or may not be right about being upset about things and you start clashing, getting frustrated over time and lose focus overall. Superbly acted by all those involved, this is dense and slow paced and surely not for everyone to "enjoy" (if that is the right word to use). But there is a lot things that you can take away here. One of them: Pain is all around us and we have to work with it and even if we're not able to accept it, still be able to move on

"Mia Madre" is the sort of picture you might see being made in Europe…but it's far from the sort of movie you'd expect from Hollywood. After all, a film about a middle-aged woman who is nearing an emotional collapse is not big box office. And, it's certainly not the sort of picture the target audience of 16-30 would rush to the theaters to see. However, if you are patient and give it a chance, you're bound to get a lot out of this Italian film from director Nanni Moretti (who also co-wrote and co-stars in the movie).

When the story begins, Margherita (Margherita Bay) is having a very tough time in life. She's directing a movie, just separated from her husband and is dealing with her mother's impending death. To make things worse, the picture has an American star (John Turturro) who is having trouble delivering his lines in Italian…and Margherita is far from patient with the man. What follows is the progression of events in Margherita's life…and the feeling that sooner or later, she's going to snap. After all, to make all this even worse she's middle-aged…a time which is tough on all of us…and a time of change. I should know…I am at that time in my life as well! And, I guess this is why I could relate to Margherita and her story so well.

While I wouldn't rush to the theaters to see a film like Mia Madre, it's perfect to see such a 'little' film at home on your television. It is not a sweeping saga and doesn't need the big screen treatment… which is great since the movie is new to Netflix this month. It also, incidentally, received a nearly eight minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival…so I am apparently not the only one who liked it and recommend you see it!