The Eye Of The Storm (2011)

Set in 1972 in the suburbs of Sydney in Australia, the son (Geoffrey Rush) and daughter (Judy Davis) of a wealthy matriarch visit their dying mother (Charlotte Rampling). Suffering from the lingering effects of a stroke, the mother drifts in and out of the present and revisits her past. Based on the novel by Patrick White and directed by Fred Schepisi (SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION). Barely released in the U.S., this film should have received a better fate (though it did well in its Australian homeland). Parents (especially mothers) and children and the messiness that our lives become when there's a tear in the fabric of parental comfort and support which feels like a betrayal. None of the characters are really likable but there's an empathy for their pathetic desperation as they clutch to the remnants of a maternal bond. As the matriarch, Rampling is quite moving even in her controlling arrogance while Davis and Rush hold their own without making their siblings whiny victims. There's a lovely underscore by Paul Grabowsky. With Helen Morse, Colin Friels, Alexandra Schepisi and John Gaden.