La stanza del figlio

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.

a film like a parable. fresh, honest. and cruel. because it is only reflection of ordinary reality. nothing else. a ladder of regrets, angry and lost of axis. a tragedy but in a special form. because its heart is fragility. with many nuances and games of nuances. with words as circle of deep silence and fear as wall for self protection. it is beautiful because it is wise image of a piece from society. with many definitions, all fragile, with many crumbs of joy, hope and sadness. and with bones of grief. like a confession. like mask for survive. like smoke bridge.so, nothing new. only slices of search for sense. and the silhouette of escape territory.

I read almost all the reviews, before watching the film. I was impressed by the contradictive opinions. Some 1500 users (approx. 10%) rated it from 5 to 1. Personally, I was fascinated by the film. On the other hand I will never blame anyone who disliked it. I just try to understand why someone rejects what I like and that's why I read the "negative" reviews twice, trying (like Giovanni) to analyze reviewers' characters. Certainly this is not a film for Hollywood/Marvel fans. European cinema deals mostly with real people in real life incidents and stories. Therefore they apply to completely different audiences than the above mentioned fans. So, for European mentalities the film is very good, believe me!

It takes a certain amount of cheek to write, direct and star in your own films and Nanni Moretti's earlier work, 'Carao Diaro', was certainly eccentric, as he played himself as an annoying and socially limited loner. In 'The Son's Room', he proves he can act a role, in a more orthodox portrait of a family struggling to come to terms with the death of their son. The portrait of inter-generational relationships seems over-idealised (and how many teenagers are into Brian Eno?), but the real strength of this film is its sense of inicidentality. Instead of playing as straight melodrama, we see the family trying to continue with their lives, and in particular Moretti's character, a psychotherapist, interacting with his patients. The importance attached to the chance juxtaposition of events is reminiscent of Kieslowski, as is some of the dialogue: stylised but profound, even (or even because) its relationship to the main events is oblique: the whole carries meaning precisely because the individual parts are not overloaded, everything is potentially symbolic but nothing is forced. At the end of the day you believe in these characters; as a result, their tragedy rings with truth.

Moretti becomes more mature, more intimate, more personal. While playing an increasing role in Italian politics (with his movement of opposition to the right-wing government), in his films he has abandoned the sharp political criticism of his debut (Ecce Bombo, Io sono un Autarchico), and the cynical and funny social observations of "Bianca," "Palombella Rossa," and "Caro Diario" to give us a compelling portrait of grief.

A noticeable thing about this film is that the stupidity and ignorance of the MPAA gave it an R rating. Apparently, according to the MPAA, teenagers are welcome to see the stupid violence of "Independence Day," or the idiotic cardboard characters of "Spider Man" (both rated PG-13), but should not, except under adult supervision, know that the death of a teenage child is a shocking and traumatizing experience for a family, and could shatter their painfully constructed unity.

The decision of the MPAA provoked outrage in Italy and surprise in Europe. It is amazing that people of such obvious ignorance should be allowed to make such crucial decisions: they should be held responsible for the garbage they feed to teenagers, and for keeping them away from meaningful films.