Stars: Olivier Gourmet, Morgan Marinne, Isabella Soupart

Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne

Summary: Olivier, a carpenter who teaches his craft to teenagers become obsessed with a new student, Francis. The reason for his obsession soon becomes apparent - Francis murdered Olivier's son many years earlier...

This intensely focused film from brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (LA PROMESSE, ROSETTA) follows Olivier (Olivier Gourmet), a man in mid-life working as a carpentry instructor in a blue collar French suburb. By day he teaches teenage boys how to work with wood. By night he leads a drab, solitary, routine existence. Olivier is a humble Everyman who could easily go unnoticed. However, the jarring sounds of his wood shop--sawing, hammering, slamming boards together--tell a different story, and set the tone for this simple but clearly dread-filled plotline. The camera violates Olivier with its constantly invasive, examining motion. It is behind his ears, up his nose, under his chin, and peering down the collar of his shirt. And as the film rolls, it becomes increasingly evident that Olivier is nervous, edgy, even seething about something deep inside. He develops a fascination with one of the boys in his class and nervously pursues the boy, offering him friendship and advice with a frightening lack of affection. Through forced spurts of dialogue and unexplained actions, Olivier's connection to the boy is slowly and painfully revealed. THE SON meditates on its own static tension, turning suspense into a gripping plotline all its own. Gourmet's performance is pointed and perfect, and it earned the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002.

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Aspect Ratio:	Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	French
Region:	Region 0
Special Features:	Interviews With Jean Pierre And Luc Dardenne And Olivier Gourmet, Stills Gallery, Filmographies, Theatrical Trailers Of The Son Rosetta And La Promesse
Subtitles:	Dutch, English, Italian
Year:	2002
Release Date:	July 28, 2003
Runtime:	101 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	A R T 248 D V D
Keywords:	Subtitled, Two, Son, General, Wide, Screen, French, Drama, Discs, Fils
Genre:	Drama