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97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Son, The
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MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring Olivier Gourmet, Morgan Marinne, Isabella Soupart, Rémy Renaud, Nassim Hassaïni, Kevin Leroy, Félicien Pitsaer, and Fabian Marnette
A divorced carpentry instructor at a vocational training center finds his life turned upside down by the arrival of a mysterious student. (New Yorker Films)
| GENRE(S): | Foreign |
| WRITTEN BY: |
Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Luc Dardenne |
| DIRECTED BY: |
Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Luc Dardenne |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: May 25, 2004 Video: May 25, 2004 Theatrical: January 10, 2003 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 103 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | Belgium / France |
| LANGUAGE(S): | French (with English subtitles) |
Original French title "Le Fils"; Prize of the Ecumenical Jury (Special Mention), Best Actor (Gourmet), 2002 Cannes Film Festival
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The average user rating for this movie is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Chad S. gave it a10:
Suddenly, every banal action by this sullen carpenter is significant. Our focus moves away from an overwhelming awareness that this film is being shot with a handheld camera, and onto the blank slate of a face we suspect is a signpost for an imploding soul. Before our very eyes, "The Son" transforms from a stunt into truth, artifice into edifying art. Emilie Dequenne is easier on the eyes than Olivier Gourmet, but "The Son" probably surpasses the Palm d'or-winning "Rosetta" from Cannes '99, simply because we're in disbelief that these talented filmmakers made another great film with this avant-garde approach that stops precariously short of being arch. Ultimately, "The Son" is a suspense film. Without any music cues to prepare us, we're kept on edge everytime the mentor is out of frame in context with his younger companion.
David T gave it a1:
Wow, What a bore. NOTHING Happens! cure for insomnia.
J. Ryan G. gave it a9:
You can cut the tension with a chainsaw. But why? What really happens? I'll tell you. When we watch movies, we rarely get the opportunity to feel what it really feels like to be in the particular situation the characters are in. A car wreck in the movies doesn't always make us feel like we felt when our own cars wrecked. Sex scenes rarely remind us of experiences we have had. But this movie builds the kind of tension, alienation, paranoia, and finally, desperation, that one must surely feel when in the situation these main characters are in. And, let's just assume, few people have ever been in their positions.
Matthew N. gave it a10:
This is a film which has subverted and re-invented the grammer of cinema. The work of two auteurs. A rewarding and superbly rich experience. This is a film that is experienced, not just watched. This film is high art.
Nicholas B. gave it a10:
Art distilled to its finest purity.
Buttered Popcorn gave it an 8:
Quite a good movie. Understatement abounds in this film. And it is a consistent, engaging peice of work. But you do have to wonder if it was so necessary for the camera to spend so much time focusing on the back of the main characters head, and if their had to be so much hery jerky close-ups so unrelentingly throughout. And I have to wonder why the script takes so long to disclose what the real connection is between the main character (teacher) and the new student. Long before the truth is disclosed, you start conjuring up theories of sexual deviance, etc... Couldn't they have gotten to the issue a littel quicker- after all, they still have most of the movie to resolve it, and nothing is gained by dragging out this essential piece of information besides sending the viewer down the erroneous paths that have nothing to do with the real point of this movie. But these are minor points in a very engaging, poignant movie.
Vince H. gave it a 10:
Ummmm, okay. The first reviewer obviously know nothing about film. He is the type who thinks Fellini is an Italian noodle. This movie is an astonishing masterpiece. I never review here, but I felt compelled to after the first review my detract people from seeing this. There is nothing to say except see this film of live an unfulfilled life.
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