Mothers don't get nearly enough credit for everything they go through: from the excruciating act of giving birth to the gargantuan task of raising and guiding the resultant child or children through childhood, all the while trying to juggle careers, relationships and trying desperately not to be killed by sociopathic robots that scan the Yellow Pages to find out where they live, the trials of motherhood are varied and widely explored in many films, with wide-ranging takes on the subject matter from stoner comedies like Knocked Up to terrifying body horrors like The Brood. Indeed, it could be said that movies have an almost obsessive relationship with mothers, which seems natural once you consider that both conceiving and giving birth to a child and making a motion picture are both miraculous acts of creation - and sometimes just as painful. Though not always portrayed in the most positive light, some of these films and performances leave a permanent imprint on audiences. With Mother's Day coming tomorrow it seems like as appropriate a time as ever to take a look at some of these; the most memorable screen representations of all things maternal, from those women we wish had been our own mothers to those we're eternal grateful that they're not.
