Le fils (2002)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Directors:

Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Luc Dardenne

Writers:

Jean-Pierre Dardenne (writer)
Luc Dardenne (writer)

Release Date:

4 October 2002 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Guldpalmen for bedste mandlige skuespiller 2002[Denmark]

Plot:

A joinery instructor at a rehab center refuses to take a new teen as his apprentice, but then begins to follow the boy through the hallways and streets.

Plot Keywords:

Carpenter | Boy | Sandwich | Obsession | Cabinet Maker

Awards:

9 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Olivier Gourmet	...	Olivier
Morgan Marinne	...	Francis
Isabella Soupart	...	Magali
Nassim Hassaïni	...	Omar
Kevin Leroy	...	Raoul
Félicien Pitsaer	...	Steve
Rémy Renaud	...	Philippo
Annette Closset	...	Training Center Director
Fabian Marnette	...	Rino
Pierre Nisse	...	Apprentice welder
Stephan Barbason	...	Apprentice welder
David Manna	...	Apprentice welder
Abdellah Amarjouf	...	Apprentice welder
Jimmy Deloof	...	Dany
Anne Gerard	...	Dany's Mother

Also Known As:

The Son (International: English title)

Runtime:

103 min (Cannes Film Festival)

Country:

Belgium | France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | South Korea:All | France:U | Netherlands:AL | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Seraing, Liège, Belgium

Company:

Archipel 35

Trivia:

Partly inspired by the Jamie Bulger murder, a case that shocked England in 1993 when a two year old toddler was murdered by two 10-year-old boys.

Do you still want to be a carpenter?

The directors of 'The Son', brothers Jeane-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, are together experienced documentarians. This is made explicitly clear in the film's style, which affords the camera the rare opportunity in modern cinema to see rather than show. The difference is immense. Renoir, Ozu and Rossellini understood the difference, and now the Dardennes can be added to that illustrious list.

The Dardenne brothers are masters of exploding the minutiae of everyday life to beautiful, poetic proportions. Their films are largely concerned with observing people at work (see also Rosetta and La Promesse), obsessively detailing the intricate structures and routines of the mundane, the everyday. Hitchcock famously described film as life with the boring bits removed; a Dardenne film is life with the boring bits dissected, investigated and ultimately celebrated.

The film is about all the sons - the sons that were, the sons that are and the sons that will be - and all should see it.