Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are two of the smartest and most talented film directors alive today and would easily fit into an all-time pantheon of great directors. Their style is simple and frank. They focus on common people and mundane stories and match them with a no-frills direct style. The Promise, The Son and The Child are three of their best works - and should be required viewing for any contemporary cineaste.
Lorna's Silence fits in nicely with those three, even if it does not reach the majesty of them. In it, Lorna, is a Eastern European immigrant woman who has married a Belgian junkie, Claudy. Her scheme is to get her Beligan citizenship, then get a divorce and get remarried to a Russian man who will pay her for the service. All of this is done in order to get some money so she and her boyfriend, who is also not Belgian and works far away back East, can get married and open a snack shop. Things go a bit haywire when she realizes that her druggie (first) husband will die or be killed as a result of the scenario, so she panics and changes the plans suddenly.
The beauty of the film is in the elegance of the banal, working-class or lower working-class world. The Dardennes have an amazing ability to imbue their characters with love and passion and dark elements in a few short moments of a scene. Their interiors are absolutely natural (I can't imagine their art director has to do much because all the settings seem totally honestly real) and reflect on the characters that inhabit them. The handheld cameras and natural lighting they use add an immediacy and believability to their works.
They have a stable of rugged actors who are absolutely wonderful and reminiscent of John Sayles' or middle-Woody Allen casts. They add texture and gritty reality to the story, sometimes without opening their mouths. Jeremie Renier, Olivier Gourmet and Morgan Marinne are all fantastically used to show how dark this world is. Especially Renier whose previous work in The Promise and The Child sets up a lovable and complicated character. (If you have seen the previous works, it is hard to see Claudy as anything other than a grown up Igor/Bruno - a lovable boy who went off the rails, but has a good heart.) Arta Dobroshi, who plays Lorna as a smart and strong but emotional woman is also fantastic.
Seen in a vacuum, without other Dardenne movies as background, the plot is just one step beyond being considered 'simple'; when compared to other films by the brothers, this is downright complicated. Sadly, I think this is one of the problems with the film. Telling one simple, strong story has been the cornerstone of their films to this point, and I don't think they are as successful with a more complex plot. Especially in the last act, the pace gets too frenetic and the story loses its direction. I appreciate what they were trying to get at, but I think it feels more Hollywood than it should. The Dardennes are brilliant, but they are decidedly not Hollywood.
Stars: 3 of 4
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