‘The Son’s Room’ (La stanza del figlio)

A calmly-told tale of bereavement with barely a whisper of melodrama, director (and lead actor) Nanni Moretti unwraps his raw, deeply relatable exploration gently and with heartfelt emotion.

The nuclear Sermonti family are content – a good home in the coastal city of Ancona, he a psychoanalyst, Paola (Laura Morante) an art gallery manager. Their two immensely likeable teenage kids are above average at school. The sudden death of Andrea (Giuseppe Sanfelice) in a scuba diving accident sends their world into turmoil and threatens its very basis.

The Son’s Room is nuanced and moving, exquisite and gentle with quiet performances complementing the story – and winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2001.

Rating: 78%

Director: Nanni Moretti (We Have a Pope, Mia madre)

Writer: Linda Ferri (Anche libero va bene, Light of My Eyes), Nanni Moretti (We Have a Pope, Mia madre), Heidrun Schleef (Like the Wind, Remember Me My Love)

Main cast: Nanni Moretti (We Have a Pope, Mia madre), Laura Morante (Cherry on the Cake, God Willing), Giuseppe Sanfelice (But Forever in My Mind, Che ne sarà di noi)

‘Loro’

Bombastic, MTV-style telling of the life and times of scandal-plagued Italian PM, Silvio Berlusconi (Toni Servillo) – or at least a period in his career as his marriage to second wife Veronica (Elena Sofia Ricci) fractures.

Nudity, raucous poolside parties, coke-snorting bacchanalia is the order of the day as director Paolo Sorrentino controversially speculates on what may or may not have taken place behind both political and private closed doors as characters attempt to win the favour of the billionaire politician.

The Fellini-esque excess of debauchery, sex and depictions of unfettered wealth grate and ultimately bore – even if, unlike it’s two part release in Italy, the 150 minute international version switches at the halfway stage to a more in-depth, serious exploration of the corruption of power and money.

Sadly, too little too late – I’d mentally switched off caring before then as Sorrentino delivers, once more, artifice rather than depth.

Rating: 34%

Director: Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty, TV’s The Young Pope)

Writer: Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty, TV’s The Young Pope), Umberto Contarello (The Great Beauty, TV’s The Young Pope)

Main cast: Toni Servillo (The Great Beauty, Consequences of Love), Elena Sofia Ricci (L’amore rubato, Vendetta), Riccardo Scamarcio (Eden Is West, John Wick: Chapter 2)