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The Baby of Mâcon

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The Baby of Mâcon (1994)

November. 03,1994
|
6.9
|
NR
| Drama History
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Set halfway through the 17th century, a church play is performed for the benefit of the young aristocrat Cosimo. In the play, a grotesque old woman gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. The child's older sister is quick to exploit the situation, selling blessings from the baby, and even claiming she's the true mother by virgin birth. However, when she attempts to seduce the bishop's son, the Church exacts a terrible revenge.

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Jeanskynebu
1994/11/03

the audience applauded

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VividSimon
1994/11/04

Simply Perfect

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Deanna
1994/11/05

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

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Billy Ollie
1994/11/06

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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RaquelFelix
1994/11/07

This film was in limited release but I saw it in Dallas through USA Film Festival screening. I asked a friend to go - she's as open to difficult material as anyone and she was pretty repulsed, although didn't get up and leave. Not being a film buff per se, I was mesmerized by the visual drama. I'm hooked by Greenaway's gutsy artful literate approach to hooking the audience. After the film I had trouble sleeping for a few days and I'm not sure I could see it again, but don't regret it. It's hard to articulate without a working knowledge of film making and depth of knowledge of all the literary and historical references, but the film hits you on so many levels at once, it's an emotional and mental feast, borderline overdose. You can always get up and walk out if it's too much but fascination and experiential high overcome the trauma of what's happening on the screen. A fabulous beautiful, riveting, difficult film. Not for the squeamish.

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tedg
1994/11/08

Spoilers herein.For art to be real, worthwhile, it has to be more than a mere political statement. It has to be `open,' producing rewards beyond what the artist might have had in mind. Greenaway is the richest artist working in film and this film has bottomless rewards.The key dimension here is exploitive mercantilism: the irresistibility of the personality, expectant generation of miracles, and the engineering of these for profit. In other words, theater to support power.The key presentational mechanism is an incredibly deep self-referential nesting. Paintings within a play within a play within a movie, all shuffled. The Church is both within and without as is the power base of the artists and Medici scion. There is a phenomenal, long tracking shot during the rape that deliberately weaves through all these layers, following the main threads of the tapestry. It incidentally includes a disturbing scene; the effect is to give us no them-us boundary to retreat behind.As we watch and deconstruct this, so do the participants (whom we fancy we are better than) deconstruct the child. Every element, from disemboweling to some heavy disgust with priests, is beautiful.Any Greenaway project is an experience which impresses -- some are life-altering. This is great art in my opinion, but I prefer Greenaway projects that have broader ambition. This is like `Belly,' `Women' and `Draughtsman's' which each present a single metaphoric skeleton. The book (Pillow and Prospero) and counting projects (`Zed,' `Drowning,' `Falls') have fuller horizons. Where this is bottomless, those are bottomless in many directions.If you are looking for an `easy' beginning into Greenaway's imagination, this could be a good start.

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acejase
1994/11/09

This film is simply a masterpiece, the ultimate experience in visual poetry. If I didn't think Greenaway was a master film maker before, I certainly did after viewing The Baby of Macon.His use of the Camera is stunning, I believe it is the closest thing to perfection in reference to the Camera, Actor and Stage. There were so many moments of genius throughout the Film that I was overwhelmed and had to see it a second time to soak it all in.He has captured the era, the aura, the atmosphere of the subject better than anything I have seen before. The script was a work of Art, the blending of Vulgarity and Beauty, from the spoken word to the lavish colours and movement captured on Film, a true masterpiece in every sense of the word.Yes, I highly recommend this Film, it has volumes to say, if you desire a deeper, fulfilling feast of mind and heart. Everything a Greenaway fan could want, and more.

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MarMitch
1994/11/10

I saw this movie on late night television and that could explain my confusion but I do not believe that I could have understood this movie if the writer were sitting next to me explaining it as it went a long. I have no comprehension of the ending.

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