The Son's Room (2002)
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Theatrical Release: Jan 25, 2002 Limited
Box Office: $737,565
Synopsis: Nanni Moretti's extraordinary drama THE SON'S ROOM, which won the Palme D'Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, tells the harrowing story of a once tight-knit, happy family having to come to terms with a devastating loss and get on with their lives. Nanni Moretti, the writer-director of the... Nanni Moretti's extraordinary drama THE SON'S ROOM, which won the Palme D'Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, tells the harrowing story of a once tight-knit, happy family having to come to terms with a devastating loss and get on with their lives. Nanni Moretti, the writer-director of the charming CARO DIARIO, which was based on his own life, has created this piece of fiction from scratch, but he nails it so well it is hard to believe it is not a documentary. Moretti, who not only stars in and directs the film but is also cowriter and coproducer, plays Giovanni, a happily married man with two wonderful children; he is also a psychoanalyst with a group of patients both hysterical and sad. He enjoys running through the streets of Ancona, but when he opts to make a rare house call one Sunday morning instead of going for a run with his son, tragedy strikes, and he can't help blaming himself and his choices. He starts having trouble listening to and caring about his patients, and he also distances himself from his wife, played magnificently by Laura Morante. One of the underlying themes of the film is the need to make--and break--scheduled appointments that threaten to overtake one's life with its potential for compulsive obsession; as Giovanni dreams of past scenes playing out differently, he can't help but think that if he had rearranged his schedule based on the importance and necessity of his appointments, his idyllic world might not have been turned upside down. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Nanni Moretti, Jasmine Trinca, Guiseppe Sanfelice, Silvio Orlando, Claudi Della Seta
Screenwriter: Linda Ferri, Nanni Moretti, Heidrun Schleef
Producer: Angelo Barbagallo, Nanni Moretti
Composer: Nicola Piovani
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Reviews
With tender skill, [director] Moretti illuminates Samuel Beckett's familiar summation 'I can't go on--I'll go on.'
A work of powerful understatement, artfully crafted and subtly acted.
We're all guilty of worrying about things that are completely unimportant; this film is a wonderful reminder that we shouldn't.
A thoughtful and haunting study of the ways a family copes with the unthinkable.
proves once again that some of the best films do not come from America.
Nothing in The Son's Room is conventionally sentimental or reassuring.
The Son's Room refers to every room this family will inhabit for a long time -- he's an unseen, ubiquitous presence -- but they may learn to lead ordinary, even joyful lives again.
I certainly found its depiction of a family affected by grief far more believable and effective than the strident dish-breaking, breast-beating of In the Bedroom.


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