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Mood:
- GloomyBleakSincere
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Plot:
- PsychologicalParents and ChildrenHopesMind and SoulFamily ProblemsDealing With DeathGoing StraightRehabilitation more...
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Genres:
- DramaForeignRealism
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Time/Period:
- Contemporary21st Century
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Place:
- BelgiumEuropeLos AngelesUSA
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Praise:
- Critically AcclaimedCannes Festival Winner
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Attitudes:
- SeriousRealisticSlow
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The Son, 2002
French
Belgium, France
Profile of The Son
The Son can be described as gloomy, bleak, and sincere. The plot revolves around family problems, psychological motives, and hopes. The main genres are drama and foreign. In terms of style, The Son features realism. In approach, it is serious and realistic. The storytelling is slow paced. The Son is located in Belgium and Los Angeles. It takes place in contemporary times. The movie has received attention for being a Cannes festival winner and critically acclaimed.
Summary of The Son
This intensely focused film from brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (LA PROMESSE, ROSETTA) follows Olivier (Olivier Gourmet), a man in mid-life working as a carpentry instructor in a blue collar French suburb. By day he teaches teenage boys how to work with wood. By night he leads a drab, solitary, routine existence. Olivier is a humble Everyman who could easily go unnoticed. However, the jarring sounds of his wood shop--sawing, hammering, slamming boards together--tell a different story, and set the tone for this simple but clearly dread-filled plotline. The camera violates Olivier with its constantly invasive, examining motion. It is behind his ears, up his nose, under his chin, and peering down the collar of his shirt. And as the film rolls, it becomes increasingly evident that Olivier is nervous, edgy, even seething about something deep inside. He develops a fascination with one of the boys in his class and nervously pursues the boy, offering him friendship and advice with a frightening lack of affection. Through forced spurts of dialogue and unexplained actions, Olivier's connection to the boy is slowly and painfully revealed. THE SON meditates on its own static tension, turning suspense into a gripping plotline all its own. Gourmet's performance is pointed and perfect, and it earned the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002.
Details
| Language: | French |
| Country: | Belgium, France |
| Release date: | 10 January 2003 |
| Runtime: | 103 min |
| Awards: | Cannes |
Awards
Cast and Crew
as Olivier
as Francis
Photos
Clips
Critics Reviews
The Onion (A.V. Club)
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- by: Scott Tobias
The New York Times
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- by: Dana Stevens
