986. The Son’s Room (2001)

Starring: Nanni Moretti, Laura Morante, Jasmine Trinca

Director: Nanni Moretti

Running Time: 99 mins

The Son’s Room (La stanza del figlio) is an Italian film about a father who loses his son in a tragic accident, leaving him an his family in an intensely traumatic period of grieving that begins to affect all parts of their lives.

This is a very heavy and sombre film, and definitely not one that should be taken lightly. It’s full of deep meanings and symbolism, highlighting how intelligent a film it is, and coupled with a very well-written screenplay that oozes emotion, this is a properly dramatic movie.

The entire atmosphere is very understated and maintains that sombre feel throughout. As a result, the emotions of the main characters are shown clearly on screen, helped by the fantastically realistic performances all round, and that does allow you to empathise even stronger with them in this horrible time.

It touches on painful messages in the latter stages of the film, particularly the regret that the father feels for not having connected with his own son before it was too late, and that’s a perfect example of how emotionally tough this can be, and for parents, this could be even more powerful and hard-hitting, so you must go into this film with a fair degree of caution, due to the realism and strength of the emotional trauma depicted.

However, whilst that’s all a very true description of the film’s atmosphere and intent, this is definitely not a particularly accessible story to most people. It may be initially intriguing and hard-hitting, but for those viewers who aren’t taken in so much by the first trauma, particularly younger viewers, this can become a bit of a boring slog.

The characters remain fascinating throughout, however if it’s not understood initially, which can be very hard for some people, the continuous quiet and emotion between the lines can be difficult to pick out, leaving this as a potentially dull and tiring drama.

Overall, this gets a 7.1, because whilst it is a well-written and emotionally powerful family drama, it doesn’t have the accessibility that will make it particularly intriguing throughout for most people.