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TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (review)

Posted by on Dec 22, 2014 in Catalog | 0 comments

two-days-one-night-poster-Two_DTWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT
Written and Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne
Starring Marion Cotillard and Fabrizio Rongione
 
Sandra: I wish that was me.
Manu: What was you?

Sandra: The bird that is singing.

On the surface, the latest film from Belgium’s Dardenne brothers, TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (Deux jours, une nuit), sounds like a tiresome concept for a film. A woman must go to a dozen or so co-workers over the span of a weekend and convince them all to keep her in her position at the factory. The catch is they will all lose their bonuses (1000 euros) if they do so. You would think that watching her explain the situation over and over again before asking the exact same question would be tedious and repetitive but in fact, the film is a captivating look at depression and individual self worth. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the woman doing all the asking is none other than Marion Cotillard.

Sandra (Cotillard) has been off work for some time now on a sick leave to deal with her depression. She claims to be better but she continues to pop Xanax like their breath mints and can barely get out of bed. She did just find out that her co-workers just nearly unanimously voted to have her let go in favour of keeping their annual bonuses though, so some leeway is surely allowed. Due to some unethical manipulation of the original vote, she is granted the chance to change people’s minds, but begging door to door is not something someone on their best day can handle well. That said, in doing so though, it forces her to fight for herself, something depression makes incredibly difficult. As she argues her case to each individual, she gets closer to seeing her own worth again.

two-days-one-night-cannes-2014-5

It isn’t an easy process. In fact, her question often makes people extremely defensive and sometimes violent, exposing just how much we value the almighty dollar over the well being of another human being. When one particular co-worker breaks down in tears at the very sight of her over the guilt he’s felt since voting to keep his bonus though, my faith was restored in a sweeping wave and it hit me right in the gut.

4 sheep

Your turn!

How many sheep would you give Two Days, One Night?

[kkstarratings]

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