SunnyHello
Nice effects though.
Matialth
Good concept, poorly executed.
Inadvands
Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess
Glucedee
It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
Aditya Kadrekar
This is one of the movies I wouldn't like to rate. But I would recommend each and everyone of you to watch it. I'm sucker for Palme D'or winners and how could I miss this one? I'm pretty sure the concept of losing out a family member have been explored by many directors, but there is something unique about this one. Directing himself in the movie (I really think it's a very difficult job to do that), Nanni Moretti hasn't put a foot wrong. And, if you're looking for a very good screenplay and some breathtaking cinematography, this is not your thing. This movie is all about actors pouring out their emotions on screen and a really sweet background score. What got me raving about the movie is how we blame every single action of ours when things don't go our way (I think majority of us to do that). La Stanza Del Figlio is simplicity personified. I'd say a must watch.
bandw
This is a well crafted film. The actors are good, especially the women. However, the script is less than inspired. In the first part of the movie we are introduced to Nanni Moretti, a happily married psychiatrist with two teen-aged children, a daughter and a son. Then the son dies in an accident. Given that scenario, in the normal course of events you would expect: despair, denial, guilt, what ifs, marital difficulties, the questioning of life goals, and so forth. And that is exactly what you get. The ending did supply some ambiguity. Just when you though the family was on the road to acceptance and coming back together, they are seen walking on the beach with each one going in a different direction. Nanni's dilemma with staying in his job is nicely set up by several scenes showing what he has to deal with as a psychiatrist. If what is presented is a typical cross section of patients, then it would seem inevitable that a major life crisis would precipitate the shakedown in Nanni's professional life. In fact Nanni was showing some signs of feeling ineffective in being able to help his patients before the tragedy. After having seen what it is like from the other side of the couch, I came away from this movie wondering how a psychiatrist can avoid early burnout.With scenes like the family's last viewing of the body in a casket before it is sealed, it is hard to avoid getting wrapped up in the tragedy that befalls this family, but the emotional investment did not pay off for me in the end. Movies with a similar theme (the loss of a child) that I found more interesting and engaging are, "Ordinary People" and "In the Bedroom."
etudiantemo
Grievous, but thoughtful and tender. Permeated by agonizing sense of loss, this film tells a father's love for child, profound and penetrating into his life. Agony is inevitable, fatal and deadly even to a psychiatrist. Sometimes I "enjoyed" in sad films as indulging oneself in grief helps one to temporarily "forsake" the affliction of one's own. The musical is genial, By this River perfectly matches the stoic resolve and looming sorrow of the alive and incur audience's tears for genuine feeling. I like this kind of tender narration, telling of a sorrowful story in gentle manner. In the end, the parents drive to the border of France and Italy, and the scene ended in the blue sea, familiar sand and continuous hills around give rise to tranquility and peace, which, to some extent, soothe the pain and anguish. It looks like seeing the great blue sea is a kind of happiness. In a word, it's a good ending.
dbdumonteil
....is the worst thing that can happen to you.That's what Nanni Moretti tells in a story full of restrained emotion and a great sense of propriety.The perfect family : a shrink,his attractive wife who's got a good job,two children with good prospects.Some cracks in the mirror ,hardly noticeable: the psychiatrist does not seem to care that much for his patients,his problems and theirs are worlds apart (best example: the patient who just learned he'd developed lung cancer);he is proud of his son but we feel that he asks too much from him: in a sport game you MUST win.When the tragedy occurs ,the father realizes that all that has not been said or done will never be.Maybe he shouldn't have treated his son that way .Maybe he should have kept him with him when he was jogging.There's a scene which many people will find unbearable :the moment when they place the boy in the coffin;nothing is spared the viewer and the sound of the nails finds only an equivalent in a similar scene in Maurice Pialat's "La Gueule Ouverte" (1972).The relationship with the patients dramatically changes too.Now what was finally a spoiled big child knows what it is to be in pain.If they are keen on meeting the boy's first love ,it is that both the father and the mother want to cling to something in the present which can make their son come back for a short while.It's revealing that the three members' first moment of "happiness" happens in the car ,where the girl and her supposed boyfriend make up for the awful loss .This is a deeply moving movie ,but for people with a strong heart.