The Son's Room (2002)

It takes skill these days, if not nerve, to put a vital, happy nuclear family on screen and to let us share in every quiet tremor, every gentle jostle and smile of their steady, deep-flowing contentment. The Son's Room was directed and cowritten by the Italian filmmaker and actor Nanni Moretti (''Caro Diario''), who has given himself the role of an affectionate father and urbane professional shrink. A tragedy occurs, as tragedy sometimes will, except that there is no catharsis here, only a heartfelt exploration of the means by which happiness repairs itself. A-