La fille inconnue
- 2016
- Tous publics
- 1h 53m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
11K
YOUR RATING
A doctor gets obsessed with the case of a dead woman after learning that the woman had died shortly after having rung her door for help.A doctor gets obsessed with the case of a dead woman after learning that the woman had died shortly after having rung her door for help.A doctor gets obsessed with the case of a dead woman after learning that the woman had died shortly after having rung her door for help.
- Directors
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 2 wins & 7 nominations total
Hassaba Halibi
- La mère d'Ilyas
- (as Hassiba Halabi)
- Directors
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
A dead body near the riverbank. An inconclusive police investigation. A prostitution network, operating from a shady bar. It sounds like the classic ingredients for a Raymond Chandler crime story. In reality, it's the set-up for 'La Fille Inconnue', the latest film by the Belgian film makers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne.
With this crime story, they explore a new genre. Usually, their films are social dramas about people on the fringes of society and their daily struggle for life. With this approach, they have made many very intense and moving films. But in my opinion, they were starting to repeat themselves. 'Deux Jours, Une Nuit', from 2014 was much acclaimed but overrated.
In many of their films, the plot development is secondary to the emotional power of the performances. Not so in 'La Fille Inconnue'. The plot is exciting and functional in carrying the story forward. The central character is a young doctor, who gets obsessed by a murder case because the victim rang her doorbell minutes before being killed. The doctor didn't answer the bell, and blames herself for it. She is determined to reveal the identity of the victim and starts an investigation of her own. Because she is a doctor, she is bound by an oath of silence and can't share her information with the police - a very clever script element. At the end, she manages to solve the crime. But at the same time, the truth confronts her with the fact that the victim would still be alive if she had opened the door.
Of course, this is not a classic crime thriller in the style of, let's say, Claude Chabrol. The Dardenne brothers remain true to their trademark hyper-realistic style and to their social conscience. The young doctor is treating poor, displaced, and lonely people. She herself is a solitary, business-like character. The film is set in the gritty industrial town of Seraing near Liège, the home base of the Dardennes. It's populated by working class people. They don't show emotions easily, and that goes for the doctor as well.
The crime element makes 'La Fille Inconnue' stand out in a positive way. It's one of the best films the Dardenne brothers have made in a long time. And it's definitely one of the best films coming out of Belgium this year. Never mind the lukewarm reception of this film in Cannes.
With this crime story, they explore a new genre. Usually, their films are social dramas about people on the fringes of society and their daily struggle for life. With this approach, they have made many very intense and moving films. But in my opinion, they were starting to repeat themselves. 'Deux Jours, Une Nuit', from 2014 was much acclaimed but overrated.
In many of their films, the plot development is secondary to the emotional power of the performances. Not so in 'La Fille Inconnue'. The plot is exciting and functional in carrying the story forward. The central character is a young doctor, who gets obsessed by a murder case because the victim rang her doorbell minutes before being killed. The doctor didn't answer the bell, and blames herself for it. She is determined to reveal the identity of the victim and starts an investigation of her own. Because she is a doctor, she is bound by an oath of silence and can't share her information with the police - a very clever script element. At the end, she manages to solve the crime. But at the same time, the truth confronts her with the fact that the victim would still be alive if she had opened the door.
Of course, this is not a classic crime thriller in the style of, let's say, Claude Chabrol. The Dardenne brothers remain true to their trademark hyper-realistic style and to their social conscience. The young doctor is treating poor, displaced, and lonely people. She herself is a solitary, business-like character. The film is set in the gritty industrial town of Seraing near Liège, the home base of the Dardennes. It's populated by working class people. They don't show emotions easily, and that goes for the doctor as well.
The crime element makes 'La Fille Inconnue' stand out in a positive way. It's one of the best films the Dardenne brothers have made in a long time. And it's definitely one of the best films coming out of Belgium this year. Never mind the lukewarm reception of this film in Cannes.
Simple yet effective, The Unknown Girl starts out as a typical day in the life of Jenny Davin, a doctor running a private clinic who feels guilty not answering a late night door bell ring at the office that oddly ends up costing a young woman her life. Feeling guilty, when Davin discovers that this woman's identity is unknown she makes an effort to find out who she is so that she won't have to lie in an unmarked grave.
It's a well done movie, I'm very impressed with what they did with so little. Some what like a Dogme 95 movie in the sense that they do nothing to enhance the story, which is so basic. No music, no flashy cuts or cinematography. Nothing to make it sparkle, Yet it does. It could have been so dull but it wasn't at all, was interesting and really pulls you into the story. worth seeing.
http://cinemagardens.com
It's a well done movie, I'm very impressed with what they did with so little. Some what like a Dogme 95 movie in the sense that they do nothing to enhance the story, which is so basic. No music, no flashy cuts or cinematography. Nothing to make it sparkle, Yet it does. It could have been so dull but it wasn't at all, was interesting and really pulls you into the story. worth seeing.
http://cinemagardens.com
"The Unknown Girl" is one of the most refreshing and original pictures to come out in several years. It is a character study of a female doctor coming to grips with her conscience as she ignores a frantic after-hours caller who is subsequently killed. She becomes a part- time detective to find out what happened to the girl, becoming obsessed at the expense of her practice and at considerable risk to her own safety.
French actress Adele Haenel gives a thoughtful, understated performance as the doctor/ detective. She is in nearly every scene, wearing a hooded parka out of season and with a determined innocence and disregard for normal investigative procedure, which she improvises as she goes. The film achieves the 'suspension of disbelief' necessary for films to work, and receives great assistance from an almost-perfect mise en scene on the streets of Liege, Belgium. It becomes real, for an hour and 50 minutes. Ignore bad reviews and see if you agree it is as close to perfection as filmdom can get.
French actress Adele Haenel gives a thoughtful, understated performance as the doctor/ detective. She is in nearly every scene, wearing a hooded parka out of season and with a determined innocence and disregard for normal investigative procedure, which she improvises as she goes. The film achieves the 'suspension of disbelief' necessary for films to work, and receives great assistance from an almost-perfect mise en scene on the streets of Liege, Belgium. It becomes real, for an hour and 50 minutes. Ignore bad reviews and see if you agree it is as close to perfection as filmdom can get.
Dr Jenny Davin is a young go getter, she is running a small practice but is destined for much better things in the filed of medicine. She has an intern/locum who she rides pretty hard and seems to be lacking in all but professional courtesies.
Then one night her practice door bell rings and she refuses to have it answered. Later she finds that it was the last attempt of a young girl to get help before she was murdered. Faced with the weight of what she has done – or rather not done – she becomes obsessed with finding out who the girl was and so begins a quest for the truth.
This is a bleak film, the town is crumbling and grey and everything has the feel of neglect – this is replicated in the way some of the people are treated and the victim is no exception. However, at the centre of it all is hope and decency and so the two are finely balanced against each other in a way that holds the yin and yang together nicely.
The acting is all great too and it will keep your attention until the final reveal. It is well written directed and shot too – so not a lot not to like – in French this is a film for those who like to an unusual plot and appreciate the smaller things that cinema has to offer.
Then one night her practice door bell rings and she refuses to have it answered. Later she finds that it was the last attempt of a young girl to get help before she was murdered. Faced with the weight of what she has done – or rather not done – she becomes obsessed with finding out who the girl was and so begins a quest for the truth.
This is a bleak film, the town is crumbling and grey and everything has the feel of neglect – this is replicated in the way some of the people are treated and the victim is no exception. However, at the centre of it all is hope and decency and so the two are finely balanced against each other in a way that holds the yin and yang together nicely.
The acting is all great too and it will keep your attention until the final reveal. It is well written directed and shot too – so not a lot not to like – in French this is a film for those who like to an unusual plot and appreciate the smaller things that cinema has to offer.
"A good doctor is not emotional," maintains Dr. Jenny Davin. "If you are moved by a patient's suffering, it causes a bad diagnosis." Dr. Davin runs a medical clinic in Liege and is moving swiftly up the career ladder. Late at night the clinic door buzzer rings. There is a young woman and a plea for help. The plea is ignored. Dr. Davin wants her good doctor mantra to stick for her office intern. "She will come back tomorrow," says Dr. Davin of the unknown girl. Yet the next day the woman, an immigrant, is found dead. Consumed by guilt, Dr. Davin searches for clues to who this woman is and why she died. In this way Dr. Davin enters an underworld in the community, full of fear and manipulation, that she never knew of before and from which she may not return.
The film explores enticing themes; immigrants trapped in a web of fear, finding the balance between too much emotion and too little, and – the most beguiling – the right amount of emotion for a doctor to utilize in their trade. "Wouldst thou, then, have preferred the condition of a weak woman, exposed to all evil, and capable of none?" Dr. Rappaccini asks his daughter Beatrice, in Hawthorne's wonderful story. "I would fain have been loved," answers Beatrice "not feared." Dr. Davin walks the same line between love and fear, empathy and professional judgment, arrogance and weakness, . . .
The Dardenne brothers are masters at their trade. They specialize in portraying economic and social justice, as they do here. It is a slow-paced, yet seducing film. It is two weeks after I saw the film and the lessons it teaches linger. The story simmers in a tantalizing way in my mind. Seen at the Miami International Film Festival.
The film explores enticing themes; immigrants trapped in a web of fear, finding the balance between too much emotion and too little, and – the most beguiling – the right amount of emotion for a doctor to utilize in their trade. "Wouldst thou, then, have preferred the condition of a weak woman, exposed to all evil, and capable of none?" Dr. Rappaccini asks his daughter Beatrice, in Hawthorne's wonderful story. "I would fain have been loved," answers Beatrice "not feared." Dr. Davin walks the same line between love and fear, empathy and professional judgment, arrogance and weakness, . . .
The Dardenne brothers are masters at their trade. They specialize in portraying economic and social justice, as they do here. It is a slow-paced, yet seducing film. It is two weeks after I saw the film and the lessons it teaches linger. The story simmers in a tantalizing way in my mind. Seen at the Miami International Film Festival.
Did you know
- TriviaThe Dardennes revealed to Variety that they were planning to make this movie with Marion Cotillard as lead, but it didn't work out, so they decided to make Deux jours, une nuit (2014) with her instead.
- Quotes
Le père de Bryan: She doesn't care.
Le père de Bryan: She's dead.
Jenny Davin: If she was dead, she wouldn't be in our heads.
- Alternate versionsAfter its poor reception at its Cannes Film Festival, the film was reedited to be 7 minutes shorter, with 32 changes to the film. This new version premiered a little over a month later, on June 30th 2016, at the Institut Lumière in Lyon, and is the version that was then shown in all subsequent releases and festival showings.
- SoundtracksBye bye docteur Jenny
Written by François Petit
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- The Unknown Girl
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- €7,031,914 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $150,549
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $13,477
- Sep 10, 2017
- Gross worldwide
- $2,432,640
- Runtime1 hour 53 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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