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British filmmaker and educator, Victoria Mapplebeck, has experience in various mediums such as film, video, VR, and user-generated content. She has a knack for capturing personal and revealing moments through her smartphone camera. In 2019, her iPhone short film “Missed Call” earned her a TV Bafta for its portrayal of her life as a single mother and her relationship with her teenage son and his absent father. Mapplebeck has now expanded this concept into a heartwarming, humorous, and captivating full-length documentary. The title of the film, a reference to a computer’s central circuit board, highlights both the significance of the digital tools used to document their lives and Mapplebeck’s pivotal role in their family unit – the motherboard that must always function and never take a break.
The movie Motherboard is a heartfelt tribute to director’s son, Jim, through two decades of footage documenting both their lives. It captures the surreal growth of Jim, from a tiny baby to a fiercely independent and intelligent young adult who ultimately surpasses his parent in height. The film spans 90 minutes, mirroring the lengthy process of parenthood. Along with the challenges of raising a child, the filmmaker deals with personal struggles such as exhaustion, a breast cancer diagnosis, anxiety, and a complicated relationship with her father who abandoned the family during her childhood.
Richard Linklater’s famous movie, which captured a child’s transformation over the course of three hours, was titled Boyhood. Mapplebeck’s own film could have been named Motherhood, Sonhood, or Lifehood. It is a personal and intensely local film with highly-detailed 4K visuals. The result is a deeply satisfying, compassionate portrayal of Victoria and Jim that makes the viewer feel as though they are lived next door. Mapplebeck’s camera is always present, observing her own life like a fly on the wall. She demonstrates a dedicated – almost ruthless – determination to position the camera in even the most unflattering angles. One particularly striking, almost unreal shot shows Mapplebeck undergoing radiotherapy with the camera placed near her head, looking down at her body illuminated by clinical lights. She also shares a brutally honest moment with viewers where she expresses a desire to stay alive long enough to see Jim reach adulthood, regardless of when she herself may pass away.
Additionally, there is a particularly poignant aspect in the revelations she receives from Jim about his emotions regarding seeing his father: “I will feel sorrowful; even if things go well, I will still be sad.” This movie succeeds because it is not attempting to achieve anything beyond its own intimate storytelling, and it exudes a remarkable sense of compassion and geniality.
Source: theguardian.com
