The Mothering Heart (1913)
Directed by D.W. Griffith •
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__The Mothering Heart __(D.W. Griffith, june 1913) with Lilian Gish and Kate Bruce, camera Billy Bitzer for Biograph Company 1.
The film starts with an iris shot. The eccentric round out-of-focus mask circles the young woman examining a bush (00:00:32). The aperture opens so that we also see her mother in the background. The young woman is concerned when a little dog sticks its snout in a tin can (00:00:46), which symbolizes the trouble her husband will bring upon him if he gets involved with another woman. ‘The motherly spirit.’ She helps the dog get rid of the can in which it is stuck. The young woman, with the two puppy’s in her arms, is thus framed as a motherly caring woman. And there is the young lover, who proposes her to marry, which she initially refuses. Her body language reveals that she has little feelings for him. ‘Against her better judgment, she listens to her young lover.’ When she sees how sad he reacts, her caring heart breaks and she agrees. He is ecstatic with happiness.
She ‘smooths the path of the struggling young husband.’ She works hard in the house, but the young woman and her young husband appear happy. She is particularly caring for him and, in addition to housework, also does ironing on commission in order to ‘pay for their house.’ An old matron comes to collect ironing and gives the young woman a dollar coin. ‘At the end of the hard day, she puts aside her own trials for her loved one.’ She puts on a cheerful, energetic face when her husband comes home a bit sad. She gives him his newspaper, gives him the money he earns, serves the food and hugs him.
A little later ‘the husband experiences prosperity. He comes home cheerfully and shows the young woman a check. The money worries are over. They cheer and hug. The young woman puts flowers on the table (00:05:01) and plays with baby clothes. ‘Mother’s love.’ Apparently she is pregnant because she takes a child’s clothes as a baby in her arm and hugs it. But when the husband comes home he is grumpy. He slaps (00:05:29 and 00:05:49) the flowers on the table – indicating rejection of love for his wife – and tells her to take off her apron and dress neatly to go out. The young woman arrives in unsightly clothes and a frumpy hat. He doesn’t like the clothes but says go ahead, let’s go.
‘With (business) success comes the aversion to domestic happiness.’ The young couple arrives at a chic club, where ladies and gentlemen are drinking and talking, while a group of dancers perform a sensual, wild dance on the raised stage. The mass direction in deep space is striking, where an orchestra plays and guests eat and are served on the balcony (00:06:27). The young woman feels out of place here. The waiter shows them to a table. At the table next to them sits an older gentleman with a gallant woman with a large fashionable hat. The gentleman at her table steps up and ‘the unattached woman turns her interest to something new.’ She ogles the husband (00:07:39). At the same time, the young woman is not nice company: she does not want to drink wine and is given a cup of coffee. The young husband cannot take his eyes off the fashionable woman (00:08:32). The contrast between his own poorly dressed wife and this woman of the world is great. The husband and the unattached wife have eye contact and the young woman now notices something (00:08:56). But he says he is absolutely not interested in that woman. But she doesn’t accept it, gets up and leaves while the husband follows her, gesticulating heavily. When he gets home he is a bit angry: You really can’t do that. But he embraces her anyway: there is nothing wrong.
‘A chance meeting on the way home.’ On the way home (from work?) the husband passes a lady who can’t open her car door. He helps her and then sees that it is the woman from the fancy club. They are happy to see each other again and he almost gets into the car, no, that’s not the intention. But a second later he is tempted to get in. Meanwhile, the young woman waits with a set table for her husband’s return. ‘The wife’s first disappointment.’ The husband takes the unattached wife to the chic club where there is still titillating dancing on stage. They sit at the same table where the husband previously sat with his young wife. The young woman is mourning at home over tea (00:10:47), while her husband is drinking champagne with his girlfriend (relational cross-cut 00:10:52 civil and faithful vs mundane and unfaithful). A classic Apache dance is performed on stage in a fairly close shot (00:11:01). The close shots of the dancers on stage fit almost seamlessly into the overview shots of the restaurant, where the husband and his girlfriend are having a lot of fun. The husband kisses the wife’s long gloves and mindlessly puts them in the pocket of his jacket. But then his gaze freezes: he has to go home.
The woman drops him off in front of the house, while the young woman walks around angry and agitated. He has all kinds of excuses as to why it is so late and goes to freshen up. In the meantime she, caring as she is, hangs up his jacket. She hugs the jacket as if it were her husband. But then she feels in the pocket of the jacket and finds the long white gloves. She raises her eyes and looks directly at the audience with a dazed look (00:13:09). She lowers her eyelids over her eyeballs, further increasing the state of numbness and finally changing into a smile and a gesture of ‘What the heck.’
‘The next evening her suspicions are aroused.’ The husband says he is going out for a while. The young woman follows closely behind him, hides behind a tree and sees (in eyeball POV shot 00:14:03) how her husband talks intimately with the woman in her car and then enthusiastically gets in. The car drives away and the young woman digs her nails into the tree behind which she takes shelter. When she gets back inside, she takes a piece of baby’s clothing, walks closer to the camera, holds it up and laughs cynically. But then her gaze freezes and she realizes that she is pregnant while her husband is unfaithful to her. She staggers on her feet at this thought. ‘The young wife explains to him that he has forfeited all rights to her love.’ When her husband returns home, she is already wearing her coat and hat and her suitcase in hand. She makes it clear to him that her love is over and leaves, leaving him in despair.
She arrives at her mother, whom she embraces. In the meantime, he is already sitting with the woman in the chic club where another Apache dance is being performed. The young woman has now had a baby, which we see with her in a very vague, slowly opening iris shot at the bottom right of the screen (00:16:17). The black diaphragm symbolizes the doom that hangs over them. The young woman hugs the baby with her mother standing in the background while another Apache dance is performed in the club (relational cross-cut 00:16:43 caring and with high moral standards vs carefree and completely unhinged). In the chic club, a gentleman sits down at the adjacent table and seeks direct contact with the woman. ‘A new light.’ In medium-close we see the gentleman ogling her, while she ogles back. He winks at her and she is sensitive to that. The husband reacts angrily and the competitor is amused by this and acts as if he has a speck in his eye. The husband now admonishes her with a finger (00:17:43) and she does not accept that. She gestures: I am not your property. This leads to them angrily resigning and leaving the club. Outside, the new lover rushes towards the woman, who cheerfully walks away with him.
‘The baby is sick.’ The young woman holds the baby, who is sick in her mother’s home, in her arms. And there is the doctor who checks the baby and is hindered in his work by the overprotective wife. In the meantime, the husband comes home, sits on a chair and mourns, and reads in a letter where his wife is. He rushes to the house of the young woman’s mother and when he enters he sees the sick baby lying in his crib. The young woman looks at him coldly and full of hatred. She wants him to leave again. Outside he tells the young woman’s mother that she doesn’t want to see him anymore.
The young woman meanwhile notices that the baby is no longer breathing and calls the doctor, who has to determine that the baby has died. Outside, the husband is mourning because his wife no longer wants to see him. The young woman’s mother comes in and hears from the doctor that the child has died. She leaves the young mother, bent over the cradle, alone with the doctor. The mother warns the husband who bends over the cradle after entering. The young woman walks in a daze through the garden and, in a blurred iris shot, picks up a branch and angrily smashes through the rose bushes with it (00:22:16 love has now completely left her). When she walks back inside, she again tries to send away the husband, who is sitting by the crib. But then she discovers the baby’s teat in her husband’s hand (extreme close-up in a blurred iris shot 00:22:52) and becomes endeared by it. She embraces her husband and cuddles him. From 00:22:59 onwards the iris slowly closes towards the center until the image fades out.
Eyeball POV:
The young woman follows closely behind him, hides behind a tree and watches (in eyeball POV shot 00:14:03) how her husband talks intimately with the woman in the car and then enthusiastically gets in.
Deep space:
The mass direction in deep space is striking, where an orchestra plays and guests eat and are served on the balcony (00:06:27)
Extreme close-up:
She discovers the baby’s teat in her husband’s hand (extreme close-up in a blurred iris shot 00:22:52) and is touched by it.
Aperture and vignette:
The most intimate shots of this film are executed as iris shots with a blurred contour. The movie starts also with an iris shot. The eccentric round out-of-focus mask circles the young woman examining a bush (00:00:32). The aperture opens so that we also see her mother in the background.
When the young woman has had a baby we see her together with the baby in a very vague slowly opening iris shot at the bottom right of the screen (00:16:17). The black diaphragm symbolizes the doom that hangs over them.
When the child has died the young woman walks through the garden in a daze and, in a blurred iris shot, picks up a branch and angrily smashes through the rosesbushes (00:22:16). When she walks back inside, she again tries to send away the husband, who is sitting by the crib. But then she discovers the baby’s pacifier in her husband’s hand (extreme close-up in a blurred area irisshot 00:22:52) and becomes endeared by it. She embraces her husband and pets him. From 00:22:59 onwards the iris slowly closes towards the center until the image fades out.
Relational cross-cut:
The film has a number of parallel edited scenes, often also a relational cross-cut, such as when the young woman is having tea at home (00:10:47), while her husband is with his girlfriend in the luxury club drinking champagne (00:10:52 civil and faithful vs mundane and unfaithful).
The young woman hugs the baby while another Apache dance is performed in the club (relational cross-cut 00:16:43 caring and with high moral standards vs carefree and completely unhinged).
Symbols:
The young woman worries when a dog sticks its snout in a tin can (00:00:46), which symbolizes the trouble her husband will bring upon him if he gets involved with another woman. ‘The motherly spirit.’ She helps the dog get rid of the can in which it is stuck.
The young woman puts flowers on the table (00:05:01) which represents the love she feels and plays with baby clothes. ‘Mother’s love.’ Apparently she is pregnant because she takes a child’s clothes as a baby on her arm and hugs it symbolically.
Flowers:
The young woman puts flowers on the table (00:05:01) which represents the love she feels. When the husband comes home, he is grumpy. He slaps the flowers on the table (00:05:29, 00:05:49) – pointing out the lack of aan the love for his wife – and tells her to take off her apron and dress neatly to get out.
When the child has died the young woman walks through the garden in a daze and, in a blurred iris shot, picks up a branch and angrily smashes through the rosesbushes (00:22:16): love has completely left her now.
The fourth wall:
Once Lilian Gish breaks the fourth wall, namely when she, caring as she is, hangs up her husband’s jacket. She hugs the jacket as if it were her husband. But then she feels the long white gloves in the pocket of the jacket. She raises her eyes and looks directly at the audience with a dazed look (00:13:30). However, she is not looking for real contact with the audience or support from the audience.
Open air studio:
In the scene where the young woman realizes that her husband is cheating on her while she is pregnant (00:14:27) it is noticeable that the wind moves curtains, Lilian Gish’s dress and hair and also the children’s clothes, which means that we are dealing with an outdoor studio in Hollywood.
The matron collecting the laundry is Josephine Crowell, who plays Payne’s mother in ‘Home Sweet Home’, Mrs Cameron in ‘Birth of a Nation’ (1915) and Catherine de Medici in ‘Intolerance’.