Acclaimed Italian director Giuseppe Bertolucci draws from such classics as "Oedipus" to "Othello" to fashion this beautifully photographed drama about the relationship between a mother and a son. While actress Sofia (Francesca Neri) rehearses "Othello," she abruptly discovers that the play's director and her long-time lover Bruno Maier (Rade Serbedzija) is gay. The shock leads Sofia to consider suicide, until she discovers an abandoned baby. Soon she adopts the child and names him Bruno. Five years later, Sophia and Bruno are touring with an acting troupe that specializes in performing for school kids. Later, Bruno is 15 and is confused and angry. He longs to know who his father is, and he suspects that Sophia is not his real mother. When tension reaches a head, the two go on a road trip to find his biological mother. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi