Director Stephen Gyllenhaal in his social drama The Isaiah Affair raises the issue of motherhood. Who is considered a real mother? The one who carried the child and gave birth, or the one who raised him, providing everything necessary? Two women who claim parental rights for the same black child will be judged. It would seem that the verdict should be obvious to any sane person. What moral rights can a young girl who left a baby in a garbage can in a drug frenzy show up? Where is the guarantee that she is really done with drugs and will be able to provide her son with a decent life? But the trial is complicated by racial prejudice. After all, a black child lives in a completely alien environment in a white family. How comfortable is he to be like everyone else? Will he feel happier among his own? Whose side is the law on?
What struck me most about this film was not even the outcome of the trial, but the fact that the biological mother asked her to be rehabilitated because she, you see, repents and wants to correct the mistake of her youth. And she got away with only forced treatment for drug addiction. And the fact that she essentially threw the child into the garbage can, which miraculously did not lead to death, the rest somehow care little. It turns out that more importantly, she didn't sign the adoption papers, so it can't be considered a legally valid document. What is this nonsense? Shouldn't a single mother who is registered and unable to provide for her child be automatically deprived of parental rights? In fairness, she should thank Margaret for the fact that she was not afraid to adopt the child of a drug addict, who, in addition to such heredity, can still swim out a whole bouquet of various diseases. And Margaret is accused of being white! It's just some wild madness even for the '90s.
But if you judge the quality of the social drama by the emotion it evokes, it certainly impressed me. Especially since the sentimental ending touches his sincerity. Perhaps, this act can be called maternal, when you think first of all about the welfare of the child, and not about your own selfishness. But if such an initiative were an initial, rather than a step of despair, it would be commendable. Not everyone can admit that they screwed up. Jessica Lange played a great lead role. Her emotional court appearance was compelling, eliciting genuine sympathy for the mother's grief. This is the first time I have seen Halle Berry in such a provocative way. I coped with the role well, but I did not want to empathize with her character, despite the fact that she shed many tears in the frame. It seems humanly possible to understand her, but sympathy for her did not arise. Isaiah’s relationship with his own daughter Margaret was not properly revealed. However, it would be possible to increase the focus on racism. And then it would certainly be difficult for the viewer to make a verdict in favor of any mother.
7 out of 10