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04/01/06
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Son Frere (2004)
92
%
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Reviews Counted:25
Fresh:23
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.1/10
Theatrical Release:Apr 2, 2004 Limited
Synopsis: This harrowing family tale about illness and grief is directed by the commanding Patrice Chereau (QUEEN MARGOT, INTIMACY). Captivating at every moment, the film thrives on the emotional intensity... [More]
Starring: Bruno Todeschini, Eric Caravaca, Nathalie Boutefeu, Maurice Garrel
Director: Patrice Chereau
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Reviews for Son Frere
While it's not the most dramatically gripping film, Son achieves an effective sense of realism with handheld camerawork, natural lighting and very convincing performances.
04/01/04
Patrice Chereau's film is not always pleasant to sit through, but it has the raw, unsettling power, and the surprising tenderness, of a Lucian Freud painting brought to life.
04/01/04
Top CriticOne of the best films about such a deceptively simple thing as brotherly love to have come out of France in quite a while.
04/01/07
Fine performances, but it feels like they are being reined in to keep their emotional distance - from each other and from the audience. Still... it can be devastating.
05/21/04
It's in [the hospital] sequences that the film works best, as director Patrice Chéreau imbues the story with little touches that feel authentic
03/25/04
Beneath its surface of chronic suffering and hospital details, Chereau's best drama etches a humane, sensitive, and richly moving portrait of fraternal love struggling to mitigate human frailty.
04/01/04
An unsentimental, almost uninflected, account of a preparation for death, told with a painful clarity that eventually bleeds into compassion.
03/30/04
Top CriticPatrice Chéreau cuts to the core of human agony with the kind of raw precision that escapes most living directors.
03/23/04
Both [Todeschini] and Caravaca do a great deal with very little histrionics to make auds care for two brothers who are clearly re-learning to appreciate their family ties, but who only rarely confront each other about their respective emotional journeys.
04/27/04
Insightful and often painful to watch, Patrice Chereau's sensitive drama captures the reality of chronic illness.
04/02/04
It's as honest as it is agonizing.
05/20/04
Top CriticThe movie brings disease back to metaphoric ground zero and, in the process, links the sick and the healthy in one significant but often overlooked manner: We're all prisoners of our own bodies.
12/10/04
Top CriticAffords painful insight into what happens to relationships during a serious illness.
03/17/04
The same black-and-blue realism that made French director Patrice Chereau's romance Intimacy such a memorable, if gloomy, experience is once again evident in this moody adaptation of Philippe Besson's novel.
04/02/04
While visually impressive -- the film won the Silver Bear for best director at the 2003 Berlin Film Festival -- Son Frere is draining to look at.
12/10/04
A harrowingly accurate portrait of the indignities sometimes suffered by hospitalized patients -- and the sacrifices their families make.
04/02/04
Top CriticHushed, clinical, grimly paced, and moving.
04/07/04
Top CriticThe actors bring a startling physicality to their roles--the skin speaks volumes.
03/17/04
An observant little film that plays like a poignant étude.
12/10/04
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