It's one of the saddest films I have ever seen that still manages to be uplifting but not overly sentimental.
The Son's Room (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:81
Fresh:68
Rotten:13
Average Rating:7.3/10
Consensus: The Son's Room is a moving and contemplative study of grief.
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... 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]
Starring: Nanni Moretti, Jasmine Trinca, Guiseppe Sanfelice, Silvio Orlando
Starring: Nanni Moretti, Jasmine Trinca, Guiseppe Sanfelice, Silvio Orlando, Claudi Della Seta, Stefano Accorsi, Sofia Vigliar, Laura Morante
Director: Nanni Moretti
Director: Nanni Moretti
Screenwriter: Linda Ferri, Nanni Moretti, Heidrun Schleef
Producer: Angelo Barbagallo, Nanni Moretti
Composer: Nicola Piovani
Studio: Miramax Films
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Release:
Oct 8, 2002
Reviews for The Son's Room
Ranks with such films as In the Bedroom, Ordinary People, and Terms of Endearment in the sensitivity with which it observes the effect a child's death on the remaining members of the family.
Infused with a moral and emotional ambiguity and Moretti's characteristic humanity, it's a forceful and deeply affecting work.
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.
With tender skill, [director] Moretti illuminates Samuel Beckett's familiar summation 'I can't go on--I'll go on.'
Sometimes in a quite ordinary way a director can reach out and touch us.
Nothing in The Son's Room is conventionally sentimental or reassuring.
Una obra maestra que sin embargo no será entendida , como ocurre en muchos de los casos en los que...
Happily stays close to the ground in a spare and simple manner and doesn't pummel us with phony imagery or music.
Ultimately the project comes across as clinical, detached, uninvolving, possibly prompting audience members to wonder, 'What's the point?'
Instead of building character, [The Son's Room] makes its points serially and plays like the outline of a B minus term paper in which the assigned subject is Kubler-Ross.
It's rare for any movie to be as subtle and touching as The Son's Room.
Seeps into your consciousness, never letting go even when it's finished.
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