S.L.I.F.F. Review: ‘My Mothers Garden’

Travis:

‘My Mothers Garden’ is a documentary by Cynthia Lester, a young woman who decided to document her efforts to help her mother. The film follows Cynthia to California as she and her two brothers attempt to help save her mother, Eugenia Lester, from losing her house. Eugenia, a Polish-American immigrant, suffers from a disease called Hoarding Disorder. This condition manifests itself as an uncontrollable need to collect and keep everything. In the film, it is said that a person with Hoarding Disorder cannot part with any of their stuff because it would be like parting with a piece of themselves. This becomes painfully clear as we witness Eugenia’s struggle with her community over her habits and her even more difficult struggle with letting go of her stuff. Cynthia was contacted by the city authorities, who stated that if she doesn’t get help with the growing “issue” that her neighbors are complaining about they will take her home away.

Cynthia and her two brothers are sympathetic at first to their mother’s plight, but realize they must clean the place up or else witness their mother become homeless. They make every effort to help Eugenia clean the house, but this reality proves far more difficult for Eugenia than her children had imagined. Cynthia finally decides it will be best if she takes her mother back to New York with her while her two brothers clean the house without Eugenia’s constant interruptions and objections. Almost immediately, this proves to be a positive step for Eugenia as she quickly becomes more joyful spending time with her daughter and experiencing New York again after having been away for many years. However, the stress and withdrawal of being away from her house begin to surface again and lead to her return to California.

Eugenia suffers her worst breakdown upon returning to her now clean and organized home. Her two sons have done an extraordinary job, clearing mounds of unsorted garbage bags from the yard and clearing the house which had been stuffed so full of what most would call junk, that one could not enter through the front door. It had gotten to the point that Eugenia had to crawl in and out of her house through a window, and the stuff had piled up throughout the house so that one could not see or walk on the floor. As an audience, we can clearly see and relate to Cynthia and her brothers’ efforts to help their mother. Eugenia’s living conditions were terrible and the house had become unsafe to live in. The refrigerator was filled with rotten food and they found dead rats and feces everywhere as they cleaned. At the same time, we also feel empathy for Eugenia who truly feels she’s being wronged by those who oppose her lifestyle.

In the end, we a re rewarded by the fact that Eugenia is getting better. She no longer lives at home, but is doing well in a nursing home where she has found a new way to focus herself and not get overwhelmed with the urge to collect and hoard things. ‘My Mothers Garden’ is a touching story that at times really pulls at the heart strings. Eugenia is a wonderfully beautiful human being with a kind heart that suffers from a condition that keeps others from seeing her warmth. While the film is made by her daughter, it actually adds another level of depth to the story. The film isn’t rooted in finding a cure or fighting some injustice. Instead, the film is an honest and and revealing portrait of a fascinating woman. [Overall: 4 stars out of 5]

Festival Screening Date: Saturday, November 15 @ 7:30pm (Webster U.)