"Caravan', a delicate mother-son relationship in a touching road movie
The film by Czech director Zuzana Kirchnerova, born in 1978, whose first feature film is now in cinemas
3' min read
3' min read
An intense mother-son relationship is at the centre of one of the most interesting films of the weekend in cinemas: it is 'Caravan', a film by Czech director Zuzana Kirchnerova, here at her first feature film.
At the centre of the plot is Ester, a woman who, after twelve years devoted entirely to caring for her son David, who suffers from a mental disability, is going through a very difficult time. At the age of forty-five, she finally allows herself the long-dreamed-of holiday in Italy, hosted by her childhood friend, but what was supposed to be a moment of light-heartedness soon turns into a new prison. Stuck with David in an old caravan parked in the garden, surrounded by friends who, although affectionate, cannot cope with their son's unpredictability, Ester feels trapped. Between feelings of guilt and the fatigue of a life that seems to leave her no room, one night she makes an impulsive decision. She starts up the caravan and sets off with David on an impromptu trip across the Bel Paese.
Presented in the Un certain regard section of the last Cannes Film Festival, 'Caravan' is an anomalous road-movie, capable of dealing intimately with such a delicate and nuanced relationship.
A (double) tale of formation
.What is portrayed is a double coming-of-age story, involving both the boy and the mother, a woman who turns away from everything she knows in order to achieve something different: for her son and for herself.
The journey they undertake is a strongly metaphorical journey of rebirth, during which they will venture along roads never trodden, amid unexpected encounters, dream landscapes, and moments when joy alternates with despair.
