QHow much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
AFor detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? can be found here.
QIs 'My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done' based on a book?
ANo, My Son is loosely based on the real life story of Mark Yavorsky, an actor who killed his mother with an antique sword in a re-enactment of a scene from the Greek tragedy Orestes in which a son slays his mother in revenge for the death of his father. The screenplay was written by Herbert Golder, a professor of Classical Civilization at Boston University, and German film-maker Werner Herzog, who also directed the movie. The title is from the Euripides play Herakles. After Herakles has murdered his wife and his children, his father says, 'My son, my son, what have ye done?'
QHow is this movie to be interpreted?
AThose who have seen the movie agree that it can be understood on several levels. The most obvious one is the problem of social complacency, i.e., how the people around Brad, such as his girlfriend and play director, were oblivious to his mental state. Even though they could see that he was deeply troubled, they viewed him only as being eccentric and disruptive. Others focus on Brad's bizarre relationship with his mother, one that bordered on child abuse and may have led to Brad's inability to relate to the rest of world in normal ways. Hence his descent into a nonreality where he assumed the role of Orestes, a role in which he was originally cast as an actor. A third interpretation, based on the fact that his condition became noticeable after his return from Peru, is that Brad became possessed or influenced by ancient spirits near Machu Picchu .
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