Two Days, One Night (2014)

Sometimes when I watch a film, I have practically no choice but to look at what is between the lines (or, as I sometimes tell my students in the English writing class I teach, *beyond* the lines). This is a case in point with Two Days, One Night, another film by the Dardenne brothers. If you've seen at least one film you might get a handle on how their style is, and don't mistake how "simple" (if that's even a word to use here) their approach to storytelling is for having a lack of style.

If as a filmmaker you're ostentatious or really out there it's often called 'stylish' direction (i.e. Wes Anderson, Brian De Palma), but the Dardennes' approach is to execute their own method as well, just as calculated as the filmmakers who dress their editing and camera-work to impress but in a different way; seeing L'Enfant I got that, and even more so with The Kid on a Bike (the former very good, the latter excellent), and what it comes out to is that they look head on at the human beings that make up this Earth. We know these people, and even if there's a Maron Cotillard on screen it doesn't mean we get that distance like if she was in Inception or Dark Knight Rises or something. Her character is us, or someone we know, and just as much are the other characters that she interacts with who, in reality, may be actors acting in a film but could as likely to be those same people: working class, trying to get by, thinking that if a $1,000 bonus is floated their way it's time to take it even if it means, well, a certain someone can't stay around on the job.

(On a side note, this film hit me on a personal level: a member of my close family had a situation almost exactly similar to the one that Sandra's is here, where severe depression, which is sometimes, though not always, is looked upon by society as a "eh, get over it" kind of deal, made it so that this family member could barely get out of bed much less go to work every day, and just as in the same way it put the family's job in jeopardy. I could see much of the same struggle, almost to the letter emotionally speaking, and even the moments where the film takes its biggest dramatic turns, one you'll know when you see it, felt familiar in that way that made the film staggering to experience - it treats it as a disease that can't be fought, only managed and as a thing to or not to succumb to).

So it's not some abstract concept that the Dardennes' are dealing with; in a very real way Two Days, One Night is a political film, and of all things I was reminded of Spielberg's Lincoln from a few years ago. If you recall in that story, Lincoln has to get his people to try and flip enough potential 'Yes' votes for the 13th amendment to pass and end slavery. Of course the stakes aren't quite so high, but on a micro level (if that's the thing to say as opposed to maco) it's still crucial, as people have to look inside themselves but also look at what's going on in their lives and how empathy plays in to it: can these men look past the bonus so she can stay, or will they vote with their immediate futures in mind (and as another note, and I don't think insignificant to see while watching as I'm sure Dardennes were clear in their casting, it's practically all men who work with Sandra at this company)?

As a slight nitpick to what is otherwise a powerhouse of a film experience, also with Cotillard who I'll expound further momentarily, it's

Fmovies: I heard nothing about Two Days, One night before I decided to check it out on Netflix, and I must say that this is one of the best foreign films I have seen in a while. Actually it's just one of the best films I've seen in a while.

Two Days, One night tells us a story of a woman's desperate attempts to persuade her co-workers into making a very important decision that determines her future. The story focuses on human nature and our ability to give something up for someone we barely know. It feels incredibly intimate and human throughout and there were times where the emotions were so raw that I kept forgetting that I'm just watching a film. It felt so real and I really wanted to see this character succeed, mainly because her character was so well acted. The plot is very simple but there is a wavering sense of unpredictability and even tension as we watch this desperation-fueled journey unfold. The main plot line sets off many little strings of other interactions that I would never have saw coming, making this a unique and highly enjoyable first viewing.

The acting all around was fantastic. Our main character, played by Marion Cotillard, was emotionally broken and this actress did an amazing job showing it. She covered so much range in her performance that I simply could not keep my eyes off her, for more than just the obvious reason. She was excellently formed as we constantly see her entire demeanor and mannerism change after every character interaction. She reacted realistically in a way that made me feel very immersed within the film's story and narrative. I greatly wanted to see this character succeed at her goal, and if she had not been as well acted, I definitely would not have cared as much. Another great thing about Two Days, One Night, besides the excellent acting, is that we can all relate to it's personal and socially accurate storytelling.

Our character is seen asking many individuals to make quite a large sacrifice. The great thing is that we all know what this feels like. So we can place ourselves in the shoes of either character and feel incredibly attached to the story. This constant feeling of immersion and realism felt absolutely perfect and there was not one second where I felt like the film dragged or included an unnecessary scene. I enjoyed every second of it and I really didn't want it to end. But when that time did come, it felt extremely satisfying and understandable. There was no complex enigmatic riddle to solve or deep metaphor with infinite possible meanings to interpret. The ending was just as meaningful without any of these things.

I thoroughly enjoyed Two Days, One Night. It tells an interesting story that could very well happen to anyone. It was involving, emotionally raw, and just fantastically human.

You absolutely will be disappointed if you are looking for a "robot fighting robot" movie or anything superficial, or beautiful woman. (Well no one can say Cottilard is not beautiful, but she deliberately gives up her beauty to fit the character.)

This movie shows us what real emotions is. It reveals life in such a vivid and convincing way that you'll think about your own life, although you may be a lot better off than the characters.

After all this movie is a feast of fine acting, a reason that movies are still called art, and a spirit lifting experience that is going to linger on for a long time after you finish it.

Two Days, One Night fmovies. I've never been a fan of Darwinian theory: why interfere when mother nature will straighten out the weak? Not especially after watching this simple, yet powerful film.

The Dardennes do not make make morality tales. Even though their characters navigate practical dilemmas that challenge their moral stance. This moral stance in turn, corresponds with realities in which these characters exist — it is a ramification of larger economic forces that govern the poor and working-class.

It is with that in mind, that the Dardenne's narrative strategy reflects neorealist tradition and normative ethics. The main point has always been for us, the audience, to observe the conditions in these characters' daily lives, how they conduct themselves or negotiate problems and resolve dilemmas. In a Dardenne film, we're allowed to engage unobtrusively, without passing judgements on what they choose and how they arrive at those choices eventually.

Two Days, One Night is set against the backdrop of an industrial town in Liège, Belgium. Sandra Bya (Marion Cotillard) is a working-class wife and mother who earns her living in a solar panel factory. After a nervous breakdown, she is forced to take a break from work. The duration of her absence isn't known to viewers, but sufficient for supervisor Mr. Dumont to notice it was possible to cover Sandra's work if all 16 workers pulled an extra 3-hours per shift.

Soon, the factory's management proposes €1,000 bonus to each staff if they agree to make Sandra redundant. By the time Sandra returns to work and knows what happened, majority of her co-workers had opted for the bonus. Factory foreman Jean-Marc influenced their votes by saying if Sandra wasn't laid off, maybe they (her co- workers) would be. Regardless, her fate has been sealed via democratic means.

Concerned friend and colleague Juliette appeals to Mr. Dumont and negotiates a secret snap ballot. Everyone will vote first thing Monday morning — will they choose the €1,000 bonus or Sandra? Because the factory's management surely could not afford both.

Two Days, One Night refers to the weekend: rest days where hard workers retreat in comfort to the sanctuary of their homes and private lives. When Sandra is forced to intrude people's lives on a precious weekend, visit each and every one of her 16 co-workers in a bid to change their minds before Monday (I use the word "forced" because clearly, Sandra was embarrassed and reluctant to do it), at one point she laments in self-disgust saying "I can't stand it. Every time I feel like a beggar, a thief coming to take their money. They look at me ready to hit me. I feel like hitting them too." But kitchen worker and husband Manu urges with maturity and understanding, "You have to fight for your job." Both knew Sandra cannot quite walk away and abandon work at the small factory. The family of four has just recently moved out of public housing. Sandra needs the minimum wage job to keep their heads above the water, to keep from going back to welfare assistance.

Much of the film has Manu drive Sandra around the small town of Liège, as the 48-hours clock goes ticking down with growing intensity. The first dilemma is presented as she goes knocking door- to-door, trying to convince fellow employees to give up a salary bonus that they too, badly need. Times are hard and money is tight, her interactions with each co-worker and their subsequent response to her plea is compelling to watch.

It's as low key and quiet as a film can get. It's not enhanced for comedy, action, or drama. Just a realistic human story of the basic struggle to make ends meet in this world.

It's the type of movie that separates the movie geeks from the film geeks.

As a film geek, I can appreciate how the filmmakers did so much with so little, especially actress,Marion Cotillard.

The movie counts on her being realistic, all the way down to the weight it looks like she lost in order to play a woman who just got over an illness, and in order to get her job back spends a weekend visiting her coworkers in order to convenience them to vote for her to get her job back in a secret ballet on Monday, over a big bonus they would all get if she stays laid-off. She had to be believable as a proud woman who did not want to ask her coworkers of this, she did not want their pity, but she needed to support her family, a situation all of her coworkers are also in. It's a truly unbalanced and unfair situation for everyone and Marion did an excellent job portraying how uncomfortable that is.

As a movie geek, though the movie was watered down with absolutely no sugar, I'm glad it was not boring. It helps that the subject is something almost everyone who has a job in this economy can relate to, no matter which side of the equation you're on.

Definitely the type of picture we'll all be discussing long after the film is over. '

This French-language film is both written and directed by brothers Jean Pierre & Luc Dardenne and set in their native Wallonia part of Belgium, poorer than the Flemish north of the country and hard hit by the post-2008 recession. It is the complete antithesis of the Hollywood movie: slow and deliberate with no special effects or action sequences.

A small company has a vote of its workforce which decides that it would rather all the staff receive a bonus than take back a female colleague who wishes to return to work after a bout of depression. The woman at the heart of this moral dilemma is Sandra, played by the talented French actress Marion Cotillard, who has just a weekend to persuade her colleagues to change their mind. Essentially this is a film about solidarity - or lack of it - not just in the workplace but also at home and shows how different factors influence our decisions and how those decisions have consequences for ourselves and for others.