The foreign film Two Mothers (“Zwei Mutter”) couldn’t have had a better releasing time in the United States with gay marriage being approved in several states. The film now on DVD follows a lesbian married couple and their determination of have a child. The acting is exceptionally good and the direction rises to above par. What it lacks in storyline the film makes up in character empathy.
Lesbian married couple Katja (Sabine Wolf) and Isabella (Karina Plachetka) are doing just okay working at sub-adequate jobs and dealing with their lifestyle in modern day Germany. While most of the German States have allowed gay marriage, there’s still opposition to gay couples having children. Katja and Isabella decide they want a child and with adoption out of the question due to red tape and high cost, they want to go the route of a sperm donor. When they run into regulations that prohibit lesbians from getting inseminated using a sperm bank, they take drastic measures to accomplish their goal.
Director Anne Sohra Berrached does a first-rate job with the subject matter taking stylish intimate shots and showing Katja and Isabella’s love for each other. The two actresses are led through continuous rejection as Berrached rolls out her script involving the laborious task of jumping through hoops in an attempt to hold a baby in their arms. Sometimes touching, other scenes exasperating, her film plays out showing how the characters have to deal outside the realm of the accepted heterosexual unions.
Both Wolf and Plachetka are superb in their roles giving their characters determination, a deep seeded love for each other and delivering realistic roles. Katja and Isabella are at odds with each other on their future, both having different visions of how it should mature if they can have a child to adore. The impasse grows throughout the film and each actor pulls a perfect performance from the other in the quest to control their character’s destiny.
Two Mothers has been not been rated by the MPAA, but contains language, sexual content, nudity and smoking. The film plays out in the German language with easy to read English subtitles.
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Sabine Wolf, Karina Plachetka
Director: Anne Sohra Berrached
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, Contains language, sex, nudity, smoking
Genre: Drama, Foreign, German
Running Time: 1 hr 15 min
Video Release Date: January 18, 2015
Original Film Release Date:
Language: German with English Subtitles
Format: reviewed via Vimeo
Distributed by: TLA Releasing
