Sometimes watching a lot of famous, award-winning or cult films can be desensitizing and you start to wonder why you fell in love with cinema in the first place. Then along comes a film like The Son's Room! This is a film I didn't even want to see. I didn't like Ordinary People and I thought this would be a rip-off and a boring film. Instead, it blew me away completely. The Son's Room is one of the most heartfelt and moving films to come out in the past decade. It is an emotional roller-coaster and as a viewer I was part of the ride all the way.
Much of the credit has to go to writer-director-producer-star Nanni Moretti. The story he has crafted is admittedly not unique. But the treatment is beautiful. Like the family, I as a viewer lived the entire experience of the loss - the denial, the break-down, the pain and the coming to terms with a terrible family tragedy. The tragedy itself comes as a big shock. All this despite the fact that its not an event or plot based film. Its a gently paced story of normal people leading normal lives. There is nothing brilliant about the lives of the central characters or their interests. Even the patients of psychiatrist Giovanni are very ordinary and their problems and lives are actually quite mundane because they are lazy and selfish.
Moretti's direction is superb. I loved the camera movements. When you see this, notice the long steadicam take near the beginning of the movie when Giovanni comes home. There is a similar shot close to the end. But so much has changed. Music plays a central role in the movie. There is the music score which is lovely. After the tragedy, the tempo slows down and it moves from wind instruments to the piano and really has a major psychological impact. One of the best scores in modern times. There is a 1970's song "By This River" towards the end and if you watch the movie, you'll understand how appropriate it is. Moretti's brilliance in writing and directing this lovely film would have been more than enough. But he is also the central figure in the movie and gives a wonderful, restrained performance. I'm talking Anthony Hopkins Remains of the Day caliber. In fact, all the performances were very natural and realistic. No star turns - just total emphasis on the story. This is a rare and very special achievement.
Much of the credit has to go to writer-director-producer-star Nanni Moretti. The story he has crafted is admittedly not unique. But the treatment is beautiful. Like the family, I as a viewer lived the entire experience of the loss - the denial, the break-down, the pain and the coming to terms with a terrible family tragedy. The tragedy itself comes as a big shock. All this despite the fact that its not an event or plot based film. Its a gently paced story of normal people leading normal lives. There is nothing brilliant about the lives of the central characters or their interests. Even the patients of psychiatrist Giovanni are very ordinary and their problems and lives are actually quite mundane because they are lazy and selfish.
Moretti's direction is superb. I loved the camera movements. When you see this, notice the long steadicam take near the beginning of the movie when Giovanni comes home. There is a similar shot close to the end. But so much has changed. Music plays a central role in the movie. There is the music score which is lovely. After the tragedy, the tempo slows down and it moves from wind instruments to the piano and really has a major psychological impact. One of the best scores in modern times. There is a 1970's song "By This River" towards the end and if you watch the movie, you'll understand how appropriate it is. Moretti's brilliance in writing and directing this lovely film would have been more than enough. But he is also the central figure in the movie and gives a wonderful, restrained performance. I'm talking Anthony Hopkins Remains of the Day caliber. In fact, all the performances were very natural and realistic. No star turns - just total emphasis on the story. This is a rare and very special achievement.