Mammamia (1998)

It is Mother’s Day. Twenty-six-year-old Paula plans to use an invitation to dinner at her parents’ house to introduce her boyfriend Daniel to her family. He has already been living with her for six months. When Paula takes a pregnancy test that morning and learns she is pregnant by Daniel, she has little time to take in the news: her mother Clara turns up unannounced and announces that she wants to divorce Paula’s father, Martin. After more than 30 years of marriage, Clara is tired of his complacency and increasing stubbornness with age, while she herself still looks at life with curiosity. Paula, who has always thought of her parents as a perfect couple, is as surprised as she is shaken by her mother’s sudden decision. She makes several attempts to persuade Clara to talk things through with her father, but Clara refuses to be persuaded by her daughter and shortly afterward leaves to visit Paula’s sister Anne. When Paula goes to see her father and confronts him, he feigns ignorance. Nevertheless, Paula tells him she is pregnant, and Martin promises to support her. A little later, Paula finds Clara at the swimming pool and tells her the news too. Clara has clear ideas about what would make her children happy in their personal and professional lives, but wants to come across as empathetic and not overbearing. She advises Paula to think carefully about whether she wants to keep the baby. Paula, who values her mother’s opinion but also feels that her mother is patronizing her, accuses Clara of not seeing her as an independent adult. Once again, the two women part ways in conflict. Back at Paula’s apartment, Clara meets Daniel for the first time. She has no idea that he does not yet know about the pregnancy, and lets it slip, to his horror. When Paula finally arrives, they have another heated argument. While Clara stays in the apartment, Paula and Daniel talk things through in the park, trying to come to terms with the idea of becoming parents. When they return, they find Martin outside Paula’s empty apartment, wanting to speak with Clara. Paula sets off once again to look for her mother and finds her outside the Cosima cinema—in the company of a man. In the conversation that follows, Clara confirms to her daughter that she is having an affair, but admits that it is not the reason for the separation. As she tries to explain the situation further, the distraught Paula drives her car into a construction site. Neither of them is injured in the impact. Back at Paula’s apartment, Martin tries to persuade his wife to stay, but Clara does not want to commit herself.