In Motherlove, Rene Spitz begins his study showing the social relations of Johnny to his mother starting with the first day of life in the feeding situation. The first feeding is shown, and the mother’s attitude toward Johnny is illustrated. Later stages of the development of a close relationship between Johnny and his mother are presented during the nursing situation. The continuation of these relations after weaning and their shifting pattern is shown again in the feeding situation. The influence of the birth of a sibling three years later and the mother’s way of dealing with the new situation are presented. In the second part of the film the loss of mother love is shown in another child. The child’s happy behavior while enjoying her mother’s care, followed by unhappiness after separation from her mother is described. Similar stages are shown in three other children. The behavior of these children at the approach of a stranger is presented. In contrast, the film ends by showing Johnny, the child first shown, whose relations with his mother have been constantly happy ones, in free and boisterous interchanges with a complete stranger. Silent © 1953 Rene Spitz, M.D., Psychology. From the Psycholoanalytic Research Project on Problems in Infancy film studies.
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