Build a movie plot around this: What is the man's relationship to the woman? He is her son.
The answer to this question is:
"Mother and Son" (1997) is a love story, not of the "Romeo and Juliette" or "Tristan and Isolde" type, but rather regarding the profound emotional ties that exist between a mother and her son. The film calls for amazing optical effects and sounds in order to develop a cinematographic poetry. "Mother and Son" is the first part of a trilogy that has for its subject matter the study of the drama in human relationships. It is followed by "Father and Son" (2003), and by "Two Brothers and a Sister," the final installment, which is in its preliminary filming stage.The film opens on two human forms, which soon reveal themselves to be that of a young man and a frail, old woman. They recline in a silence penetrated only by whispers and indistinguishable noises. The young man is the son (Alexei Ananishnov) who is taking care of his exhausted, sick mother (Gudrun Geyer). Her illness is undefined and from time to time causes her great pain as she gasps for air. Her son combs her hair, feeds her, covers her with a coat, and takes her in his arms. She is totally dependent on him as he himself was once totally dependent on her. As the film progresses, the son carries his mother on a long journey, from her sick-bed to her death-bed. It is a circular motion, which travels a long walk through a dream-like landscape in the countryside, along winding dirt roads. At each of their brief stops on the journey is a moment of contemplation, caresses, and tender murmurs. These soft murmurs tell of the mother's love for her son when she was nurturing him and of the son's love for his mother as he opens for her the mysterious path to her death. They progress under the leaden and luminous ski of the Baltic, in totally isolated landscapes. From time to time, there is a far away train or a sail on the sea, emphasizing further their isolation from the rest of the worldThey return to the house. The son tenderly lowers his mother into her bed, which now seems to resemble a coffin. Both know that the end is nearing, although he tries to reassure...