Typically working with
new or non-professional actors, in their latest film, Two Days One Night, Belgian filmmaking brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
cast an international star, Marion Cotillard, as Sandra, a working mother just
fired from a solar energy plant. A recent management scam has placed the onus of downsizing on
workers, who are offered a bonus if they vote to operate with one less
employee, resulting in Sandra’s dismissal. As might be
expected, with her customary precision, Cotillard delivers an astute, nervy performance that oscillates
between anxiety and determination as she tries to get her job back.
While, in a very different
context, unemployment was also the focus of Rosetta, the Dardenne's break-out
film—it reportedly aided the passing of a labor bill, Rosetta’s Law, to
protect young people—Two Days One Night tersely dramatizes the issue of
worker solidarity in a toxically competitive world. In 1999, Rosetta won the
Palme d'Or by unanimous vote at Cannes.
Interview, introduction, transcript and translation by Liza Béar.
http://bombmagazine.org/article/56491216/jean-pierre-luc-dardenne
Interview, introduction, transcript and translation by Liza Béar.
http://bombmagazine.org/article/56491216/jean-pierre-luc-dardenne
