In Mammoth, Leo (Gael Garcia Bernal) and Ellen (Michelle Wilson) enjoy an Architectural Digest lifestyle of postmodern urbanity in their art-filled Manhattan loft. Their delightfully precocious daughter Jackie (Sophie Nyweide) romps with them across the polished floors. Leo is a web developer called away to Bangkok to cut a deal with a transnational corporation; Ellen is a surgeon. Their enormous income affords them the luxury of a live-in Filipina maid and nanny, Gloria (Marife Necesito).
And so it goes, on and on in a film (out now on DVD) that feels twice as long as its actual running time. Beautifully filmed and edited by Swedish director Lukas Moodyson, Mammoth is a movie without humor, drama or suspense—an unhurried look at a set of often distant lives connected by digital phones and the global economy. Gloria very much misses her two children back in the Philippines, whom she supports by sending money home. Deciding to go off the main roads in search of adventure, Leo has a fling with a Thai hooker whom he half-heartedly tries to save. Juggling parenthood with her profession, Ellen worries that Jackie prefers the unselfish love of Gloria to her own motherly endeavors.
Mammoth’s title refers to a pen Leo was given by his business partner, a $3,000 model with mammoth ivory inlays. It’s a symbol of senseless luxury amidst the grinding poverty endured by much of the world. Mammoth’s enduring impression is that Leo and Ellen live in a bubble, surrounded by have-nots who remain largely invisible despite their best intentions.
