To celebrate the release of Byzantium on DVD and Blu-Ray, we thought we’d take a look at some of the best films that focus on mother-daughter relationships, from the comedic, to the dramatic, to the horrifying.
Steel Magnolias
Sally Field and Julia Roberts play M’Lynn and Shelby Eatenton a mother and daughter (respectfully), who clash as a result of the former’s over-protectiveness and the latter’s wish for more independence. Underneath this, however, there is an unbreakable bond between mother and daughter, and their love for each other is as poignant as it is obvious.
Anywhere But Here
Susan Sarandon plays Adele August, an eccentric mother who moves to Beverly Hills with her reluctant daughter, played by Natalie Portman, in the hopes of making her a star. Portman would rather go to university on the other side of America, however, as she is growing increasingly fed up of her mother’s impractical, crazy plans for her life.
Brave
Here we have another case of mother-daughter tensions, as princess Merida wants to be free to marry for love, rather than politics. Things get even more complicated, however, when Merida accidentally turns her mother into a bear. This is a heart-warming tale of parents and children learning to understand, forgive and accept each other.
Freaky Friday
Jamie Lee Curtis and her daughter Lindsay Lohan fight about everything – Curtis thinks her daughter is wasting her life, while Lohan thinks her mother is old and boring. It is only after a supernatural body-swap at a Chinese restaurant that the pair finally begins to really respect and love each other…
Rumour Has It
This romantic-comedy actually spans three generations, exploring how grandmother Shirley MacClaine, her daughter, and her granddaughter Jennifer Anniston all share the same weakness for one man: Beau Burroughs (played by Kevin Costner). It’s a bit gross, in theory, but its parting message about mother-daughter relationships is quite sweet.
Panic Room
Maternal love knows no bounds as Jodie Foster goes up against intruders in order to get the insulin her diabetic daughter (played by Kristen Stewart) desperately needs.
Thirteen
Mother-daughter duos in films aren’t always so positive; in Thirteen the already troubled relationship between Evan Rachel Wood and her mother, Holly Hunter, is pushed to the limit as Wood discovers a world of sex, drugs and petty crime.
Carrie
Carrie White is a troubled seventeen year old girl who is not only bullied at school but abused by her fanatically religious mother. When Carrie discovers she has telekinetic powers, her mother drives her even further away, believing her to be a witch.
Byzantium
Mother-daughter relationships are also strained when other supernatural states are involved. In this case; vampirism. The ruthless, cunning Cara Webb, played by Gemma Arterton, will stop at nothing to protect her and her daughter’s way of life but Eleanor, played by Saoirse Ronan, risks exposing them when she falls in love with a local boy.
Terms of Endearment
Shirley MacClaine and daughter Debra Winger are two women desperate for deep, romantic love, but who express their own love in very different ways. As Winger grows up, an intensely love-hate relationship develops between the two.
See Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan as mother and daughter in Byzantium, out on DVD and Blu-Ray from 23rd September!
