Il matrimonio di Lorna

Lorna is well played by the actress. Lorna is a complicated woman who is involved in a game between the Belgian underground and marrying a Russian mobster. The only problem is that she is married to a drug addict who needs to die. She is also in love with a man named Sokol. She dreams of running a snack bar or cafe rather than working at the laundromat. But things slowly go awry when she can't a divorce fast enough. Her current husband wants to quit and go clean. Lorna gets paid for the marriage and the arrangement with the Russian mobster. Along the way, we learn Lorna's ethnic background and her motives. The film's ending needs to be more clear. We will never know the future for Lorna at the end and that's troubling.

LORNA'S SILENCE is a film that very quietly grabs you by the throat and makes you pay attention to the stories of several emigrants that spin out of control. It is written and directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne with an eye for verismo in the seamier side of the immigration problems.

The story is set in Belgium where Lorna (Arta Dobroshi) works at a dry cleaners then goes home to her 'husband' Claudy (Jérémie Renier), a junkie who has been duped by Lorna and her little crime gang of cab driver Fabio (Fabrizio Rongione) and her boyfriend Sokol (Alban Ukaj)into marrying Lorna so that the Albanian girl can gain Belgian citizenship. Claudy seems a hopeless case, in withdrawal for the umpteenth time but committed to getting off heroin. He pleads with his 'arranged wife' to help him with his attempt to get clean. Meanwhile Fabio has other plans: Lorna is to 'marry' a wealthy Russian mobster to gain Belgian citizenship (a second arranged marriage) and in order for the second marriage to occur, Lorna must consent to letting Claudy overdose on heroin and die, making her a widow eligible for marriage. The other side story is that Lorna, now a Belgian citizen, can proceed with Sokol to set up a snack shop with Sokol using all the money she gains from the 'marriage game'.

All is well until Claudy convinces Lorna to help him get to a hospital and get 'clean' and along the way Lorna's feelings for Claudy turn to compassion and passion. An incident occurs that throws all of the plans to the wind and Lorna is left with her secret and will hopefully manage to find a stable life without the crime influence.

The acting is first rate and the moody atmosphere created is spellbinding. This is a little film that has a lot to say about the plight of immigrants.

Grady Harp

To see the movement in this film , you become a part of it's pace. It's smoky cold feel of the spaces explored in this film allows you to immerse yourself into the the whole international thing. Being an American I tend to love the patience taken in these French films. They are woven and character developments take more value than just a get to the point story with a predictable ending. As usual in French movies, symbolism takes precedence over story. Still, reality is quite evident in the grim concepts displayed. Being of first generation immigrants,I can identify with the premise and the desperation involved. The lead character is brilliant in the way she gives less yet give so much in her subtle expressions. The direction is superb and the storyline leaves you wanting more. Many directors with this consistent success may often relax in their past laurels but the careful development of the pace of this murky tale is quite endearing.I would strongly recommend this movie for those who are plain cinema lovers.

Another powerful Dardenne brothers "social cinema".

The view is relentlessly depressing, coherently so. Everything is "grey". Perhaps a ray of light shines when Lorna helps Claudy out of his habit and they ...; the next day she seems spontaneously happy, even her clothing seems to have colour (red). Fabio, as a perfect small time mobster, brings us back to reality. That (Lorna's) mental health is finally a casualty in this world without empathy should come as no surprise to us, wealthy bourgeoisie viewers: we don't face their problems and life without attributes, just "survival" in an urban setting. Notice the poverty of "symbols" at their house. Claudy only has his CDs (which only make him look even more childish) but Lorna's got... nothing. Few sparse clothing and a toothbrush. The ending is soaring indeed.

I can add little but to say that there are some loose threads, in my opinion a bit too loose but, as a friend said: "It's French cinema, what do you expect :)?" (The Russian plot being brought to a halt for ... reason, the split in the couple, the sudden idealization of Claudy, to the point of giving his "son" everything. It's obvious she won't get far having done what she did, but I guess we're into her head, which became rather cloudy near the end (so she being left "free" is just that, an illusion).

I'd have liked Sokol's character a bit more of screen time. He seems in love, then hurried back to work, then grouchy near the end, without any explanation of his jerky moods. Jérémie is a hell of a good actor. I didn't have much faith in him, but it's not his thinness, his tight jaw or stare into emptiness. He IS despair. Lorna...Arta Dobroshi had a "make or break" role here, and she delivered a thrilling performance. Nuanced, of a person probably without much "mystery" for our standards. But very real, as any low class suburbs in an industrialized country. She seems perfectly cast for the role. Yes, she's very beautiful, but her face not being perfect, her thinness being natural, not fit like Hollywood actresses (and without any aesthetic surgeries) all make for her a probably too nice "dry cleaner's", but nevertheless, believable in her constant strive for money (where to hide it, what to do with it, etc). The way the Moreau family treats her, even regarding $, is perfect. If only they knew... I like that Lorna is far from perfect. She was fed up of Claudy, even considering murder as "just another option". Yes, her sudden outburst of emotion gives some very timely "drama" to the plot :), but I feel it was worth it.

The naturalist script is what makes this film flow.

Music is great. Beethoven's Sonata 34 op. 111 by Alfred Brendel sounded outlandish, like it were part of another, more abstract world. It is a shocking contrast to the world down below, empty of any feelings. As such, I think it's a brilliant emotional resource.

The Belgian film "Le silence de Lorna" was shown with the title "Lorna's Silence" (2008) in the U.S. The movie is co-written and co-directed by the brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.

The protagonist, Lorna, who is from Albania, has made a pact with the devil. It involves her marriage of convenience to a Belgian citizen, so that she can become a Belgian citizen. Once she becomes a citizen, the plan is to remove her husband. Then, in another marriage of convenience, Lorna, as a widow, can marry a Russian who in turn will become a Belgian citizen. Lorna wants to become a citizen so that she can obtain a loan to open a snack shop in Belgium. She wants the cash for startup money.

The plot is crafted by a Belgian cabdriver, who has no compunction about doing whatever it takes to move up in the gangster world. If Lorna's husband, a drug addict, has to be eliminated, that's not a problem.

So, everyone has dreams--of cash, of a snack shop, of citizenship, of underworld advancement.

The problem is that the drug addict, Claudy, is obviously in love with Lorna, and he's desperately trying to stay clean. Lorna has sympathy for this needy, suffering young man, and she'd like to adjust the pact with the devil to somehow spare him. However, what she learns is that the devil doesn't like people who want to change the pact.

Arta Dobroshi, as Lorna is, indeed, from the Balkans. (So, it's not a stretch for French speakers to accept her authentic accent.) Ms. Dobroshi is a superb actor, and gives a brilliant performance as a woman who is basically decent, but finds herself in a less-than-decent situation.

Jérémie Renier is excellent as her husband, Claudy. My wife and I admired his work before in another Dardenne brothers film--"La Promesse." It's really easy for Claudy to slip back into addiction, and it's really hard to stay clean, but he can do it if Lorna helps him.

The Dardenne brothers specialize in films where bad things happen, often to good people. The curator who introduced the film said that the Dardenes specialize in films that offer no hope, but I don't fully agree. They specialize in hard films where tragedy is never far away, but the films do hold out hope for redemption. This is not always enough, but it's better than nothing.

We saw the film on the large screen at the excellent Dryden Theatre in George Eastman House in Rochester. However, it should work well on DVD.