Lorna’s Silence (2009) dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Starring: Arta Dobroshi, Jeremy Renier, Fabrizio Rongione, Alban Ukaj, Olivier Gourmet

**

It could be argued that it was Belgian sibling duo the Dardennes brothers that popularized this new prevailing trend towards social realism in international cinema. That is, socially conscious, character-based stories told with an attention to detail for the mundane movements of its characters.

Two Palme D'Ors later and the brothers are back in the realm of social realism with some minor tinkering to the formula, which, unfortunately, results in their least successful offering.

Admittedly I had to read the press release synopsis to clarify some plot points and help it make sense. Lorna (Arta Dobroshi) is an Albanian gal living in Belgium who seems to have been set up to live with Claudy (L'Enfant's Jeremie Renier), a junkie trying to go cold turkey from heroin addiction. Things are not what they seem though, as Lorna is actually married to Sokol, who still lives in Albania, but is waiting for Lorna to get her citizenship papers to bring him into the country. Underground schemer Fabio (Fabrizio Rongione) seems to be Lorna's agent, brokering this deal. When a Russian mobster comes into the picture looking to gain citizenship, Lorna is sold for cold hard cash to the Russian for marriage. Meanwhile, as Fabio is pulling Lorna's strings, she gradually develops a conscience and an awareness of the immorality of her actions and looks for a way out.

The Dardennes have trouble balancing a back-story, which requires more exposition than they've ever had to give, with the fact that exposition runs counter to their "in the moment" dogmatic style. The scale leans more towards confusion than genre integrity, as most of the above synopsis and explanations of who's who are left for us to deduce from the implied actions of the characters. We've never told who Lorna is or why she's with Claudy or why she's with a junkie or why she falls for him or why Fabio wants Lorna to marry the Russian. I wouldn't even have known Lorna was Albanian if not for the synopsis.

I'm sure these explanations are in the film somewhere, and maybe I'm the nave for missing them, but the plot feels like a crutch for the filmmakers, who really just want us to laser in on Ms. Dobroshi and Lorna, as they've done before with their other great performances. And indeed, Dobroshi has a wonderful face and nuanced mannerisms, which bring across the internal moral conflict she struggles with.

Sometimes we need more than a facial expression or a nuanced mannerism to keep us going; we desperately want to know what's in Lorna's head and even if we guess it, there's value in the spoken word. And somewhere an important message about the commoditization of Eastern European women and the depths to which many will sink to escape to a life they think they need to have is unfortunately lost.

After a number of these Dardenne street dramas expectations are high, either to better or equal the ones before it, or show us something we haven't seen. 'Lorna's Silence' accomplishes neither and is thus a disappointment.

This review first appeared on Exclaim.ca

L’Enfant (2006) dir. Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Starring: Jeremie Renier, Deborah Francois

****

The Dardennes Bros are two Belgian filmmakers known for their neo-realist/documentary approach to filmmaking. Though similar in style to the Danish Dogme 95 films (ie. the Celebration), the Dardennes’ films differ greatly in the types of stories they tell. Whereas the Dogme films tended to portray middle and upper class society, the Dardennes deal strictly with the underclass street youth.


L’Enfant is set in the mean streets of an unnamed Belgian working class city (the Detroit of Belgium). Bruno is a young petty thief and small time hood. Sonia is his pregnant girlfriend – they’re very much in love, though more of a youthful puppylove. With only a few shots the Dardennes establish the environment and the characters perfectly – we know this story, it’s Dickensian and timeless – characters with nothing in their pockets, nothing to lose and no other thoughts than how to get through the day.

When Sonia goes comes home with a baby, Bruno registers little reaction. She may have well come home with a loaf of bread, which would be more exciting to him because he could eat it. The baby is more a burden to Bruno – not only the added cost of feeding and clothing it, but the loss of attention from Sonia.

Bruno decides to sell the baby to the black market. Using underground connections he finds a buyer and is taken to an abandoned building to exchange the child. Bruno never actually meets his buyers. He places the child in an empty room, then leaves. When he returns the baby is replaced with money. Bruno’s carefree attitude about the child is terrifying, and the actual exchange of the ‘goods’ is like an adrenaline shot of street-realism.

Bruno comes home with the money, and expects Sonia to be happy for the sale. She instantly faints. His naiveté is hard to believe, but that’s what makes the character so interesting. Bruno is too innocent to hate, he’s not malevolent, he just doesn’t know any better. And Jeremie Renier’s performance make it utterly believable. The remainder of the film tracks Bruno’s search to retrieve the child.

But Bruno’s journey doesn’t end with getting back his child. He retrieves it because he has to. He does it for Sonia, not for himself. Bruno is harder to crack – the street has made him soulless, unable live beyond his primordial childlike instincts. It’s not until the final moments of the film do we realize what Bruno is looking for – it’s redemption of his soul, something which he didn’t lose, but in fact never had. Something the street has deprived him of.

The Dardennes style is unmistakable. Their camera is always solely fixed on the characters, in this case, Bruno. It follows behind him, over the shoulder almost as his point of view. It stops when Bruno stops and it looks where Bruno looks. And after 10 mins we become invisible participants in Bruno’s adventure.

L’Enfant deservedly won the Dardennes Bros a rarely achieved second Palme D’Or at Cannes. It’s the fourth in a series of similarly themed films (“La Promesse”, “Rosetta”, and “Le Fils”). All films deserve to be discovered. Don’t rent them all at once. All are downbeat and somewhat depressing, but truly rewarding on all emotional levels. Enjoy.