Review
THE SON
Starring Olivier Gourmet, Morgan Marinne and Isabelle Soupart
Written and directed by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Opens Friday, October 17
Uptown Screen
If one of the signs of a masterpiece is the impact it makes upon our imagination, then The Son sits squarely among the greatest films of the past few years. I saw this stirring drama almost a year ago when it opened in Montreal, but it is still as fresh in my memory as if I had seen it yesterday.
The strength of The Son, the third fiction feature from Belgian brothers and former documentary filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne (La Promesse and Rosetta), lies in the simplicity of its narrative.
The story follows the relationship of Olivier (Olivier Gourmet), a carpenter in a Liège woodshop, and his new teenage apprentice Francis (Morgan Marinne), who is being rehabilitated into society after spending five years in a detention home for young offenders. At first, Olivier is reluctant to take on this sullen ex-delinquent, but it’s not entirely clear why. Following an altercation between Olivier and his ex-wife Magali (Isabelle Soupart), we begin to suspect that Olivier’s reservations about Francis may be rooted in pedophilic obsession.
Fortunately, for both the film and its viewers, it turns out that Olivier’s moral dilemma is not at all salacious – although it is extremely disturbing. As Olivier’s long-standing connection with Francis becomes apparent, the carpenter finds himself stuck in an impossible situation – obsessed by revenge on the one hand, but aware that forgiveness is the correct action, even though it is an almost impossible proposition for him to accept.
By ignoring sensationalist impulses and instead showing the emotional implications of vengeance, The Son could even be described as the first humanist revenge film. Still, the Dardennes use their skill with the hand-held camera to create an intense degree of suspense – in this case, positioning the camera almost directly behind Gourmet throughout much of the film, so the back of his head is often just in the edge of the shot. This leads us to believe we’re seeing events unfold from Olivier’s perspective, and makes us feel his brooding rage and moral torment so palpably that we’re compelled to keep watching, if only to find out just how he is going to resolve his ethical quandary.
It’s a major feat that a film constructed from such minimal elements can have such a massive effect on one’s psyche. With its simple scenario and brilliant formal composition, The Son makes us reflect upon our own values and compare them with those of the characters onscreen. By the time the film’s climactic scene unfolds between Olivier and Francis in a deserted lumberyard, the Dardennes leave us measuring our own desire for retribution against our capacity for forgiveness.
Surely, this propensity to make us think is yet another indication that The Son is nothing short of a masterpiece. |
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