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Losing a child is probably the most terrible and worst thing that can happen to a person. For those who have not experienced something similar, probably the very thought of it is too abstract and simply unimaginable, impossible, too unreal, and the Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti dealt with this painful and delicate topic in one of his best and most famous films. This shocking and devastating drama brought this important Italian filmmaker probably the biggest award in his career, the Palme d’Or in Cannes, and “Son’s Room” follows the fate of a rational family of Italian intellectuals of an upper middle class as they go through all stages of grief and pain.
In fact, it will take a good third of the film for Andrea, the son of the distinguished psychoanalyst Giovanni (Moretti), his wife Paola (Laura Morante) and the brother of Irene (Jasmina Trinca) to die while diving in the sea. At the moment of death, all of them will react somehow naturally, instinctively and will not be able to come to terms with that painful fact and it will take some time to even process that he is gone. Then endless sadness, anger, despair, disintegration of their lives will follow and everyone will face the resulting void in their own way until they finally accept that they simply have to continue living with the pain and unimaginable hole left by the death of their son or brother.
And while Moretti came up with the idea for his second most famous film “Dear Diary” (Caro diario) after he was told in the early nineties (fortunately wrongly) that he had one year left to live after being diagnosed with cancer, the idea for “Sino sobu” he came after he found out that he and his wife were expecting a son. After Andrea’s death, the respected psychoanalyst Giovanni simply will not be able to continue his work. Listening to other people’s problems every day seems so banal and empty compared to what he went through, and he will no longer have the strength and energy for the job he was obviously so good at.
“The Son’s Room” is a great and impressive film because it is actually so alive, so realistic and so real. Right from the opening moments when Andrea and his friend are accused of stealing a fossil from school, and his parents don’t think it’s such a big problem because they know he’s a good and upright boy who they brought up well. After the tragedy, Giovanni reconsiders everything and thinks whether he should have treated his son differently. Could he somehow persuade him to go with him on their standard Sunday jog around the city instead of diving that fateful day. It is a delicate and striking film, a moving drama that still stands out today as one of the highlights of Moretti’s creativity.