Giovanni (Nanni Morretti) is a psychoanalyst and father to Andrea (Giuseppe Sanfelice). Giovanni blames himself for taking a house call on the day his son dies in a scuba diving accident. There's not a dry eye in the house in this Italian domestic classic.

The mother, Paola (Laura Morante), finds a letter from her son's girlfriend (Arianna (Sofia Vigliar)), in his room after he dies. The mother contacts Arianna but is initially rebuffed. However, Arianna turns up one day and they meet. She has a new boyfriend and is hitchhiking down to France. Giovanni drives them to the border.

"I have not wept as long and as hard since I saw Love Story in the 1970's. Don't start me off again, please, or I will splash you with eye water."

"Damn those subtitles! They flashed past my little ole tear filled eyes so fast I lost track of what they were saying at one point. Still, a wonderful film, if you are in the mood for it, and love a good cry."

"A wonderfully restrained tambourine and drum peppered Orangey bald dancy fest! All Starbucks should have one!"

"I have always wanted to say the line: 'I have spent 46 million lira on psychoanalysis.'"

"Will the piano player please stop tinkling so, I am welling up just thinking about it."

"I cried and I cried then I cried some more. I threw cushions at the television in an hysterical, teary eyed, kick out moment of rage. I have never been so upset in a movie. Damn them all, it's all so unfair..."

Delicious bite sized Ammonite shaped chocolates, washed down by fine coffee in a tear stained paper cup.

"I cried myself to sleep and, when I woke up, I had the cleanest face in years!"

"I was so upset that I ran completely out of tissues, so I used my cat to dry my eyes then sent Tiddles outside for a shake. The poor little dear was very angry with his mommy!"

"I cried buckets of tears. It was as if I had caught a strange crying-hiccups of the eyes. I haven't needed to water my pot plants since watching this movie."

"I had never realised that people can actually cry like circus clowns while watching a movie... Water simply squirted out of my eyes! I squirted until I was dry. When I drank my first cup of tea afterwards, it sounded like my entire body was trying to dehydrate itself all at once from my lips. I had to say pardon me!"

"OOoohh NOOOo... Please don't ask me to write it down... booooo hooo... yyyaaaakkkkiiiii aarrrgghhh! "

Yes, a terrible moment of in-bed recitation of a poem called Toes. Run for the hills. Thankfully this was before the tragic death.

Ooohh me, ohhh my! Tears are welling up even thinking of this tear-filled, nice-calamity of a sublime-monstrosity of a heartbreakingly catastrophic incident which befalls this wonderfully beautiful Italian family. At the start of the movie they have it all. Then it is whisked away in one of those horrid twists of fate that upset us so...

Clearly, if you are not in the mood to chuck pints of tears from your eyes, there is really no point in watching this movie. But if you are in such a mood, fancy an intelligent Italian movie, or can read some very fast moving English subtitles, then this movie cannot be more highly recommended.

Movies don't get much more tragically sad than this movie.

Thankfully there is little pasta in this movie, and no pizza to mention. There is a brief moment of Italian-breadcrumb passing help required in the kitchen while Mom makes dinner, but that is before the crying really starts...

This is a very effective tear jerker. Can there be anything more tragically sad than a young lad of about 15 dying so suddenly? The kid had so much going for him and a loving family around him. Boooo hooooo...

A touching, mini-masterpiece.