Saturday, September 06, 2014

The Son: In the eyes of a forgiving father

Dardenne brothers (Jean-Pierre and Luc) are French-Belgian film directors who have come to limelight through a series of films that are unique in style and content. Their focus is to portray the problematic in society and bring about a healing of sorts. To this effect, they have directed several films, the protagonists of which are generally delinquents. However, Dardenne brothers do not miss to give a positive outlook at the end of each film. Not to forget, their films are popular as much for their content as style.






Dardenne Brothers
Film Clip
Le Fils or The Son is one such sensitive film. It touches us for its simplicity. The film deals mostly with two characters. One, Francis Thorion is a delinquent. He has just come out of the jail, serving a sentence of 5 years for killing a child. He is now put under a professional carpenter Olivier as an apprentice. The irony is that it is Olivier’s son that Francis had killed. The film develops grimly, with no usual pleasantries being exchanged between the two, even as Olivier knows that Francis has killed his son. It is only when Francis gets to know that it is Olivier’s son that he had killed, that the film picks up pace, literally.
The beauty of the film is that it has very few distractions. In fact, there are very few dialogues as well. The hand-held camera that follows the characters is like a hound of heaven. The medium and close up shots ruling the roost throughout the film are so all-pervading that they can get on your nerves at times, unless you reconcile with the style of the directors. However, what touches, as usual, is the positive outlook of the film. Both the characters of Oliveir and Francis add substance to the film’s orientation.
- Melwyn Pinto SJ

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