The Sons Room

Plot

In Ancona, Giovanni is a therapist, whose 17-year-old son Andrea is accused of stealing a rare ammonite fossil from his school. Andrea is suspended and protests his innocence, but later confesses to his mother Paola he and his friend stole it as a prank, and intended to return it before it broke. Giovanni and Andrea make plans to go jogging together, but Giovanni is called to the distant home of a patient, distressed about a possible cancer diagnosis. Instead, Andrea goes scuba diving with a friend, and swims into an underwater cave where he accidentally drowns. Giovanni, Paola and their daughter Irene are left to mourn. Giovanni investigates the diving equipment model and becomes suspicious that Andrea's was defective, but Paola reminds him the verdict was that it was functioning properly. Giovanni begins having difficulty analyzing his patients, including the one he saw on the day Andrea died.

One day, Paola receives a love letter sent to Andrea by a girl named Arianna, whom he had met at a camp. The family does not know Arianna, and never knew Andrea had a girlfriend. They realize she does not know Andrea has died, and attempt to contact her and invite her to their home. Giovanni stops by a music store to buy an album, ostensibly for a friend of Andrea, but more for Andrea. A clerk gives him a Brian Eno album. Arianna arrives on her way to a destination, and sees Andrea's bedroom. She shows Giovanni photographs Andrea sent her of himself in his room, some of which are amusing.

Production

Italian director Nanni Moretti first developed the idea for The Son's Room out of a longtime interest to write about a psychoanalyst and play one. He came up with the story when he learned his wife was pregnant with a boy.

Cinematographer Giuseppe Lanci said they opted to shoot in Ancona, looking for a sea and port and deciding against Genoa for its large size and Trieste for its distractingly beautiful buildings. Filming was suspended for three months, mid schedule, due to Moretti's illness. In addition, the crew's contracts expired, and everything was interrupted by a strike action and Christmas break.

Critical reception

The film received positive reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes measuring an 84% approval rating. Roger Ebert gave it three and a half stars, writing, "Sometimes in a quite ordinary way a director can reach out and touch us." Stephen Holden of The New York Times assessed it as touching, drawing a parallel to the September 11 attacks that year, which showed how sudden tragedy devastates the living. Holden opined the film was not very creative but featured solid acting. David Rooney of Variety called it "a delicate drama of pain and grief," criticizing Moretti's performance as overly self-conscious but praising Morante as "deeply moving." Meredith Brody of The Chicago Reader said the film demonstrated "tender skill." Time Out praised it as "Subtle, psychologically astute and engagingly unassertive in tone," concluding it is "A gem." Michael Wilmington of The Chicago Tribune called the film "moving."

The film appears in Empire's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time at number 480. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, included the film in its list of ten 'Best films of the noughties' (2000-2009).

Accolades

The Son's Room was the winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, noted for being the first Italian film to win the highest Cannes honour in over 20 years. The film was Italy's submission to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but it was not nominated.