The Son's Room (2001)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

How sad is this?

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

its touch is obvious in each scene. but the theme changes the resonance of a well known style. not for dramatic impact but for solution to define it in right manner. for bitter beauty. for the fight of a family to understand. and accept. for the second chance. and for the joy of new perception of life small things. the irony of director is replaced by touching message. about the silhouette of Job looking answer to the pain. and using the question to define himself. like each film by Nanni Moretti,"La stanza del figlio" is a personal confession. and only the manner to define its terms transforms it in universal. because this is the splendid detail who transforms it in a useful story. the realism of testimony about death and hope. about joy and sorrow.about reconstruction of same life in different profound manner.

A close-knit family unit begins to unravel when the teenage son dies in an accident.The Son's Room is a subtle, gentle study of bereavement, sharp on the distinction between public and private grief, that mixes director Nanni Moretti's usual wry humour with a new-found profundity: the results are both funny and sad, but always lively and inquisitive. Its ending is all the more moving for being discreet and understated. The film was the winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. It also appears in Empire's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time at number 480.

This is a well crafted film. The actors are good, especially the women. However, the script is less than inspired. In the first part of the movie we are introduced to Nanni Moretti, a happily married psychiatrist with two teen-aged children, a daughter and a son. Then the son dies in an accident. Given that scenario, in the normal course of events you would expect: despair, denial, guilt, what ifs, marital difficulties, the questioning of life goals, and so forth. And that is exactly what you get. The ending did supply some ambiguity. Just when you though the family was on the road to acceptance and coming back together, they are seen walking on the beach with each one going in a different direction. Nanni's dilemma with staying in his job is nicely set up by several scenes showing what he has to deal with as a psychiatrist. If what is presented is a typical cross section of patients, then it would seem inevitable that a major life crisis would precipitate the shakedown in Nanni's professional life. In fact Nanni was showing some signs of feeling ineffective in being able to help his patients before the tragedy. After having seen what it is like from the other side of the couch, I came away from this movie wondering how a psychiatrist can avoid early burnout.With scenes like the family's last viewing of the body in a casket before it is sealed, it is hard to avoid getting wrapped up in the tragedy that befalls this family, but the emotional investment did not pay off for me in the end. Movies with a similar theme (the loss of a child) that I found more interesting and engaging are, "Ordinary People" and "In the Bedroom."

The family ties in this film are so astoundingly true to life, it almost brings back the tears... I cannot think of a better film dealing with grief than La Stanza del Figlio, I swear on my own life. You could think that there was nothing new to bring to the subject of the movie, and boy would you be very very wrong. Moretti deals with the loss of his son in such an amazingly realistic way, it's almost scary... And the sister, played by Jasmine Trinca, is also an endearing character. You truly and deeply feel what their family feels - the negative reviews on this type of movie are ill-directed because they are NOT the target audience. They unfortunately sneaked in the wrong theater !!Moretti's best. Period.