Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

flygirl_ca This film, full of nuance and virtually no dialogue, is a good example of a European "art film." If you're looking for blockbuster action and a fast pace, keep walking. You won't find it here. If you're looking for a film that explores forgiveness, redemption and psychological tension, have a seat."The Son" can be painfully slow: dim setting, dark clothing, no dialogue. It leaves you wondering, "What's the point?" And, then, POW, you discover the raison d'être and everything falls into place. It is this very progression from WTF to illumination that makes this film a masterpiece. It's easy to see why "The Son" won multiple film festival awards in 2002, and it is most certainly worth your time.And, by the way, the acting by Olivier Gourmet and Morgan Marinne is sublime. I haven't seen any thing like it in quite awhile - and I watch a lot of films. Also, the cinematography is extraordinary with special attention to lighting. If you're a foreign film buff, grab this DVD.

Daniel Casanova This film is an essay about man to man relationship.And this is a dual side relationship. Father-Son and Master-Apprentice ( or Boss/Employee). Like in real life.Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne explore the deepness of male interaction. We follow the everyday life of a Carpenter named Olivier. He lost his son, some years in the past, in the result of a teenager trying to rob this car, thus killing his son. He (Olivier) sees his ex-wife, which happens to be engaged with someone and waiting for the marriage to come. Olivier, as a Master, receives a kid named Francis Thorion in his local carpentry.He realises that this Francis is the kid who killed his son. Strangely, he accepts the boy even though he feels very confused about the situation.The boy doesn't know who Olivier is. Olivier gets to know where he lives, and even breaks his house in a stroke of curiosity. We sometimes have a feeling he is filling the absence of his son and the hole of paternity (affected by the loss of his son). Other times, we have this strange feeling that he might be preparing to kill Francis, since he acts like a spy. The boy has a very bad background, which kind of makes Olivier slowly understand why he did what he did, even though the rage is visible in Oliviers' actions.The last minutes of the film are overwhelming; Francis is invited to go out and get more knowledge about the kinds of woods. We see Olivier putting a hang and plastic cover in the back of the car. This makes us suspect of a crime being prepared. In a station near the destination Olivier is asked to be Francis' mentor. Like in man's real relations, there isn't much talk. There is a certain degree of distance. Olivier doesn't mention he is able to be Francis mentor. The film ends with the true being told to Francis, resulting in a kind of a hide and seek which ends in equilibrium and harmony, despite the chaos of their backgrounds. There isn't a hug. Man usually try to hide their emotions.All i can say is that this movie is very human and consistent with other works from the Dardenne brothers. A must see.

Ilpo Hirvonen The Dardenne brothers, Luc and Jean-Pierre, are an acclaimed Belgian filmmaking duo who direct, write, produce and edit their films together. They first became known for The Promise (1996) which was an unconventional story about illegal immigrants and the business behind it. Their next film was Rosetta (1999) a film which built around the idea of Franz Kafka's The Castle - where a prince gets thrown out of the castle; in Rosetta a girl gets thrown out of society. In Rosetta they started modernizing cinema, both philosophically and narratively, and continued it in Le fils which, to my mind, represents a vast turning point in the language of cinema. In their films social messages are combined with subtle documentary-like narrative.The plot isn't as important to the Dardenne's as the movement is. The energy on the screen, how close we get to the characters, how close the distance between them and the audience is. The job Olivier does, woodcraft, has obviously something to do with this: it's the kind of work where you need to measure distances between destinations; Olivier is measuring the distance between himself and the boy. There's no music at all in Le fils - as in the most films by the brothers. The opening credits will put the whole audience into silence and when the film's over the silence will fall to the theater once again. There's not much of dialog either in Le fils and through that we have to observe to get familiar with the characters. And this is what the Dardenne brothers are famous of - minimalism. We get to know the characters through their body language; through their eyes and gestures.The story is about a carpentry teacher Olivier (Olivier Gourmet) who works in a rehab center. One day he refuses to take a new student to his class for an unknown reason, but eventually starts stalking and following him. When he finally accepts to take Francis (the new student) to his class an absurd relationship build between them.The narrative is something mind-blowing for those unfamiliar with the earlier work of the brothers such as Rosetta (1999). This is a radical change in the language of cinema. The whole movie is filmed with a hand-held-camera so all the events are seen from the main character's shoulder. And that let's us to actually feel his emotions and get into his head. The narrative is very slow and quiet which let's us to observe and think on our own. The camera follows the character - it shows its life. The camera doesn't know, it doesn't see, it only sees what the character sees. So what has been cloaked from us? "Cloaking is very important" -Luc Dardenne.Olivier, the main character, is so well built that one can't compare it with anything else. In Le fils he's very calm but yet it seems like he's aggressive and could explode at any second. The characterization is minimalist but very precise and considered. To me Le fils represents finest characterization out there today.The main themes, this film deals with, are loneliness, guilt and forgiveness. It can be seen as some sort of an allegory for Christian redemption and forgiveness. The film is not religious but the Dardennes had a strong catholic upbringing and just as Krzysztof Kieslowski, an acclaimed Polish filmmaker, so do they understand what a vast impact Christianity has had on us and our conception of morality. They both have said that they're atheists and Luc Dardenne has written in his book, Behind Our Pictures: "God is dead, we know it. We're alone, we know it."Le fils is quite a film, to my mind it's the best film made in the decade. It's multidimensional and complex a film which could be interpreted in a thousand different ways. To me the film was a touching moral study about the ultimate power of love, and forgiveness. Alongside with Rosetta this is one of the most experimental films made in the past few years. I think the brothers have reached a whole new level in cinematic narrative. The brothers are film-philosophers and Le fils has once again proved that film can and should be an instrument for thinking and contemplating.

MacAindrais Le Fils (2002)I recently stumbled across a debate over the best sibling directorial team. It was expectantly punctuated by names such as the Cohens, Wachowski's and Scotts(even though they don't direct together). Only one respondent out of the first 50 or so included the Dardenne brothers on that list. And even though that is understandable, given their films have lived and died almost entirely on the festival circuit, its nevertheless evokes a sense of sadness. The brothers are of a small group of filmmakers who continue to explore the human soul. They are not interested in entertaining, but enlightening and provoking. Of the three films they have made thus far in this decade, two are among the best I've seen (the third, Le Silence de Lorna, I have not seen yet). One in particular is an especially astonishing achievement - Le Fils (The Son).The problem with reviewing Le Fils is that the less said about it's content, the better. I advise you to please heed the following advice: DO NOT research the plot of the film; DO NOT read the extended synopsis on this site or any other one; DO NOT do anything but rent it, buy it, go see a showing, and simply watch. The more ignorant you are of Le Fils the better. Once you've seen it, go back and watch it again to appreciate the nuanced direction and performance by Olivier Gourmet.He plays a carpentry teacher at a rehabilitation centre for adolescents. He knows his craft, is strong and assured in his skills and can give measurements by eye. One day, a new boy, Francis, has an application placed for Olivier's class. He goes over the paper work, and informs the rehab representative that he already has too many students, and suggests they send the boy to a metal work class. But then something peculiar happens: Olivier starts following the boy, watching where he goes, watching what he does. Why? That is the question we ask ourselves. Is he a pedophile? Does he know this boy from somewhere? Soon he goes to Francis and asks if he is still interested in joining his class. He takes the boy under his wing and begins to develop a relationship with him. Only slowly do we find out the answers to our question: Why?That answer I would never dare reveal to anyone who does not already know the answer. It seems to be constructed as a minimalist thriller, although we only see it that way because of what we already conceive to be the case based on our predefined sensibilities. But what we think we know and what is the case are not one in the same. Le Fils tells us nothing we do not need to know and nothing less. It's a film so straightforward that it flies completely over the audiences head. When we find out the truth, the impact is devastating. For a film so steeped in day to day realism, the level of intensity it reaches is astonishing.The Dardenne's have made their career out of creating structurally simple but thematically brilliant films. They are not storytellers, but parable tellers. Each film is an investigation into the soul, seeking to explore what it is to be truly human in the realm of the divine, the sublime, and the real. Their names should be placed on a list with the likes of Kieszlowski or Ozu.When I first saw Le Fils, the experience left me shaken to the core. It is a film like none other. It somehow defies all expectations by laying the cards on the table plain to see. It is us, the viewers, who misconstrue and complicate things for once, and not the other way around.