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In their first film since the acclaimed
Palme d’Or-winning 'Rosetta', Belgian
film-making brothers Jean-Pierre and
Luc Dardenne have found the perfect
subject for their pared down visual
aesthetic in THE SON (Le fils).
A subtle and disquieting film about a
working class man whose life has been devastated by tragedy, THE SON offers an enigmatic and morally complex study of human emotions.
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Olivier (Olivier Gourmet), is an experienced carpenter. He teaches at a rehabilitation centre where he is a good tutor, reasonable and patient. His refusal to take on a seemingly appropriate boy, called Francis (Morgan Marinne) appears puzzling, especially as Olivier then takes to following him in the training centre hallways and along the streets of Liège. The film focuses on the ambiguous relationship that develops between them until we gradually learn that the young man is somehow implicated in Olivier’s past.
Dardennes regular, Olivier Gourmet is outstanding in the lead role, his compelling performance, effective yet understated, was a deserving winner of the Best Actor Award at Cannes in 2002. Strikingly powerful in its austere and uncompromising aesthetic, THE SON reaffirms the Dardennes’ eminence amongst contemporary European film-making talents.
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