This Italian movie is a study of grief that is told in an almost matter-of-fact way. This is fortunate, for the theme is so touching I felt that the mostly-detached tone was a wise strategy. Spoilers ahead. A contented nuclear family suffer a destructive blow and we watch, in horrified awe, as the emotional shrapnel wreaks hell. This linear movie, a Cannes winner, makes you ponder the unthinkable. The performances are convincing and the score interesting. The direction was good too. The claustrophobic shots of the analyst at the time of disaster; the painful scene with the coffin where the daughter requests one final glimpse; the scene where she breaks down in the clothes shop; the (Spoiler!) cathartic appearance of the innocent girlfriend, who, with the endearing lack of tact of the young, had brought along a replacement boyfriend! That last point is fascinating, it suggests to the family that even their lost son was replaceable and people move on. We are replaceable. Someone once said that when you quit a job, the hole you leave will be like that left by a hand being pulled from a bucket of water. Tis true of death too. Incidentally, The MPAA rated this movie R !! This over-powerful organisation obviously prefers teenagers to watch ubiquitous Hollywood violence, may the gods help is if kids are exposed to thoughtful, character-driven foreign movies. Whether it is driven by an ass-backwards "morality" or a cynical desire to make more money for Hollywood studios and itself, the MPAA's absurd behavior seems to me to be akin to a burning-of-books mentality, and makes America look immoral. Ponette, a French movie about grief, this time as experienced by a small child, was for me the most moving I've seen of the sad film genre (but I've seen very few). That movie deeply affected me, at a time when I was troubled.
Review of The Son's Room
