Nowhere Special is a film with an ironic title. Very seldom have acts of pure love and selflessness been demonstrated on film, as here, in the tale of a dying window washer and his toddler son. The washer is looking for a family to adopt his little boy, so that the boy can be in a good home, once the father is gone. Indeed, just before the father is gone. Much of the film is spent with the father and son, showing how very attentive and close their bond is, and nearly as much is spent interviewing prospective homes for the child.
Courtesy Cohen Media Group
If this sounds like an emotionally wrenching work, it may well be the case. This is a film with a great amount of care in the way the characters and situations are drawn and presented. Feeling like a cross between a Ken Loach and Mike Leigh film, the subject is presented both plainly and with great care in the everyday details, which it clearly embraces. The director of this film, Uberto Pasolini, is the nephew of the great Luchino Visconti. His ethos is different than his uncle and his interest much more mundane, yet no less clear eyed. Known more as a producer than a director-he was up for an Oscar for The Full Monty, as producer-his small body of work as a director shows a deft touch.
Perhaps the most incredible aspect of this is the performance he draws from Daniel Lamont, who plays the toddler, Michael. Where they found such a natural and convincing child is among the best and most wonderful happenstances in recent film. This, of course, would not matter if James Norton, who plays his father, John, did not turn in one of the best bits of lead work in the last five years. Every bit of worry, concern, love, confusion, hopelessness and anger is apparent in his movements and voice. This is a man who clearly, dearly, loves his little boy and who is working through the grieving process.
Ultimately, the film is about grief and letting go, about compassion and empathy, and deep, true acts of love. It is about connections and acceptance in every sense of the terms. You can sense the desperation and hesitation from John, with each home visit he takes with his son, to prospective adoptive parents. How this resolves is one of the true emotional marks in the film, and worth the 90 minute wait. Indeed, your final verdict of the film will depend greatly on not only how much you buy into this concept-inspired by a story the director read in a newspaper-and how much you agree with the final moments of the film.
Courtesy Cohen Media Group
Before that wonderful, achingly beautiful set of final scenes, and throughout the film, comes a series of conversations with an older woman, who has lost her husband. In these conversations, almost like therapy for John, he works through doubts and anxieties about his situation. Yet the best parts of the film might be small, blink and you miss it moments. Letters written, bound up and put into a box, hair lovingly combed in a bathtub, a son watching his father drive, or the father watching his son through a window with a prospective new mother. Where, you might ask, is the biological mother? Her fate is something I will not spoil, for you. Just see this amazing movie.
Saw this a couple of years ago at a virtual film festival. Glad it Dubai made it to the US. Very moving and well done film dealing with a subject no parents should have to. Both leads are excellent. 3.5 of 4 stars
Absolutely beautiful film. Would make an interesting triple feature with The Quiet Girl and Aftersun.
Sounds interesting
This looks like something worthwhile!
Thanks for letting me know about some of these films I may not have heard of.