L'enfant

I had the fortune to go see this at its Belgian premiere, which was attended by the main, and stunningly beautiful female actress, Déborah François. I found myself to be interested in the story from the start. The beginning of the film starts very simply, a young mother with a new-born baby searching on the street for what the audience presumes at the time, and is later verified to be the father of her child. The storyline then develops more as a sketch of the day-to-day living at the bottom of Belgian society. Though despite the fact a grim picture of the central couple's living situation is presented, the film-maker has not crossed the line and has interlaced many light-hearted moments into the movie.

The story develops as Bruno, the baby's father, is quickly shown to have no real interest in the baby or fatherhood, just in making money. He also is portrayed to have a genuine love for Sonya. In this sense the audience follows Brunos life, knowing not whether to cheer him or pray for his downfall, after he makes several questionable choices about the fate of his baby.

I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a simple film without Hollywood special effects, planned cinematography or any sort of soundtrack. I can see its appeal, but personally I came away wondering what exactly the director was trying to prove by making this film. He did succeed,however, to provide a somewhat entertaining, if slightly heavy film. The cast are excellent.

Earlier this evening, I was attending the premiere of "L'Enfant" in Belgian theaters.

"L'Enfant" shows us a socio-drama, with a story located in the southern region of Belgium, in a city called Seraing, where most movies of the Dardenne brothers are situated.

I will not go into any plot summaries, but let me make a comparison with other directors, so you might get a clue if you'd like to watch this movie or not. Socio-drama is a genre in film not only made in Belgium. Many great directors have made solid socio-drama's: Aki Kaurismaki, Ken Loach, Mike Leigh and many others.

Where you can find a twist of humor in Kaurismaki's movies, you'll have a hard time finding it in "L'Enfant". A high level of realism avoids any dramatization of the struggle-for-life the protagonists experience. This makes it for the viewer not easier to swallow. The absence of a soundtrack even increases this effect.

This movie has many strong points, and although I haven't seen many of the other films who were competing with "L'Enfant" at the Cannes film festival 2005, I think this film has fairly won the Palme d'Or because it scores very high on the essential aspects of film-making: acting, camera-work (see comment by Toon Creemers) and script (dialogues).

I highly recommend this movie, but don't expect to be visually entertained the way we are used to by big budget films from Hollywood. Movies like these don't need a lot of dialogue, fancy one-liners or historical quotes - the picture says it all, in a simple but effective way.

Enjoy,

Bruno (Jérémie Renier, magnificent) and Sonia (Déborah François, who reminds me of a younger Julie Delpy) are immature, teen lovers. They live on the streets of Seraing, Belgium, getting money from Bruno's gang's petty crimes. Sonia gives birth to a baby boy, Jimmy, but Bruno is totally indifferent. He sells his newborn son without Sonia's consent, and she has a nervous breakdown when he tells her what he did. Bruno then goes against all odds to get Jimmy back, but it won't be an easy ride.

"L'Enfant" is a beautiful, raw poetry about children who haven't grown up, and have their own kids without even knowing how to care of themselves. This is a film of silences, gestures that say more than a thousand words. "L'Enfant" is the first film by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne that I've had the opportunity to watch, and I couldn't be more satisfied. After reading great things about some of his other films - "La Promesse" (1996), "Rosetta" (Golden Palm at Cannes 1999), "Le Fils" (2002, Olivier Gourmet was awarded Best Actor at Cannes) -; now I understand why they're considered some of the most talented names making films nowadays. Their honesty and strength to tell this poignant story, which could easily become an absurd melodrama, is mindblowing. "L'Enfant" gave the Dardenne brothers a second Golden Palm at Cannes, and hopefully the pompous award will make more people curious to check this work of art. Nothing is as simple as it seems, and as we get into the nightmarish world of Bruno, we see he's not only an immature, cruel lad who sold his own kid, but someone who hasn't even begun to live.

Sad and remarkable, "L'Enfant" has some similarities with Hector Babenco's classic "Pixote - A Lei do Mais Fraco" (1981) and is certainly one of the year's best. 10 out of 10.

Although I have not seen all other Cannes' comp. films, I think this is a worthy winner of the Palm d'or. The film's scenery is gray Seraing, like the previous Dardenne films, and I think this is the first film in which the camera-work complements the scenery and story near perfectly. Scene's often contain only one or two shots, cutting right when everything has been said. Its one of the few films where I did not notice the camera (I'm a student cameraman), which should be the goal of every cameraman, at least in this style of film. The acting is very impressive (especially Jeremie Renier as Bruno), like previous Dardenne Films. The film seems the most accessible Dardenne so far, although it does not bore in simplicity (I saw it twice in one week, avant-premiere and sneak preview, and I liked the second time best).

When the single mother Sonia (Déborah François) returns home with her newborn son, she finds that the baby's father Bruno (Jérémie Renier) had rented her apartment for a couple. She seeks out Bruno, who is a small time young thief that has a gang with two other teenagers, on the streets and they go to a shelter to stay during the cold night. On the next morning, they register the child with the name of Jimmy. When Bruno receives a proposal from his dealer for selling Jimmy for adoption for five thousand Euros, he steals the baby and sells him to his contact. However, when Sonia discovers what Bruno did, she faints, goes to the hospital and reports the transaction to the police. Bruno calls off the transaction and retrieves Jimmy, but has to pay to the dealers another five thousand Euros, in the beginning of his descent to hell and final redemption.

The low-budget "L'Enfant" is actually the realistic story of Bruno, an indifferent and alienated young scum originated from the upper class but without job for option that steals, lies, manipulates, wanders on the streets and seems incapable of displaying love, remorse or any other human feelings. Sonia is not well developed and the viewer never knows who she actually is and why she felt in love for Bruno. Jérémie Renier and Déborah François have awesome performances in the lead roles. The conclusion is disappointing since the final redemption of Bruno is inconsistent with his character. Maybe the intention of the writers and directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne is to give some hope to the audience instead of the expected dark and credible ending. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Criança" ("The Child")