Two Days, One Night (2014)

Just what I expected

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The subject matter of the Dardenne's "Two Days, One Night" is unusual, to say the least, for a mainstream movie in this day and age, (though perhaps not for the Dardenne's who have made their name from squeezing the 'drama' out of dramatic material). It's about industrial relations, or rather it's about one woman fighting to keep her job, concentrating to a large degree on her psychological state over the short period of the film and there's no denying that Marion Cotillard is very good in the part and yet I never felt involved. In truth, nothing very much happens; Marion spends her time going round her co-workers asking each of them in turn to vote for her in a secret ballot. After a time this gets very dull indeed. It's certainly an intelligent film and it's nicely done but over this, give me the hysteria and the melodrama of "Norma Rae" any day.

Watching Inception again a few months ago with a family friend,I got told that co-star Marion Cotillard has done a number of strong French films.Taking a look one day round Netflix UK,I was very happy to find one of Cotillard's titles on the site,which led to me getting set to watch it,for two days and one night.The plot:Trying to get back into work after battling depression, Sandra discovers that her workmates have voted her out,in exchange for a 1000 Euro pay rise.Talking to friend Julien,Sandra discovers that manager Jean-Marc threatened some of the workers with the sack,if they did not vote her out.Getting hold of the company CEO,Sandra gets a second vote agreed on,in two days time. Needing over half her fellow workers to vote on her side,Sandra decides to spend the next 2 days meeting each worker,and putting her case across to them.View on the film:Coming from the documentary world,co-writers/directors Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne soak the film in an incredibly intimate atmosphere,via long takes giving each of Sandra's meetings with her fellow workers a rustic glaze. Keeping away from any "big" camera moves,the Dardenne's marvellously follow Sandra with well-held hand-held cameras,which along with giving the movie an on the spot presentation,also gives all the conversations in the title a stark, naturalistic quality.Set against the financial crisis, the screenplay by the Dardenne's turns off the TV channels to focus on what effect the events are having on people at the bottom of the ladder.Taking an episodic edge,the Dardenne's use each meeting to gradually bring themes from the background to the front of the screen,from the very male-dominated workplace,to Sandra discovering her own independence. Walking on egg shells whilst hold her head high, Marion Cotillard gives an extraordinary performance as Sandra. Slumping her shoulders with each rejection, Cotillard displays the lingering scent of depression in its most naked form,and gradually peels open a proud vitality in Sandra,over 2 days and 1 night.

Since the visceral despair of the excellent, yet hard to take Lorna's Silence, the Dardenne Brothers have been getting soft. The Kid With a Bike was, for me, dangerously close to maudlin. Two Days, One Night is a much better film than its predecessor, but it also finds the Dardennes in a more sentimental, accommodating mood. That isn't to say that its best qualities aren't outstanding. There's something quite unique about the way it builds great suspense through what is essentially a repeat of the same conversation between the protagonist and various supporting characters. If the Dardennes are often compared to Bresson, this film reminded me more of Dreyer's Passion of Joan of Arc, with the camera never far from the distraught face of its subject, studying every pained line and wrinkle, as if mercilessly empathetic. My problems with the film concern its last two minutes or so, which, if not quite a happy ending, seem sugar-coated- providing just a pinch too much closure. However the most distracting flaw, for me, was the casting of the glamorously beautiful movie-star Marion Cotillard as the factory-worker facing potential joblessness. I feel bad for saying that as Cotillard's performance is superb. But the Dardennes are known for naturalistic casting, and they apply that in every case in this film except for the lead. Indeed, Hollywood movies get a pass for casting beautiful stars as "regular folks" because the whole Hollywood aesthetic is to depict everyone as an idealized "type". Here, the actress's exceptional beauty just seems out of place, no matter how fine her acting may be.

Sandra, a young Belgian mother, discovers that her workmates have opted for a significant pay bonus, in exchange for her dismissal. She has only one weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses so that she can keep her job.This is not the sort of film that has amazing direction or incredible special effects. It is a straightforward plot driven by one of the best actresses in the business. Would you fire a co-worker if it meant that all your other co-workers would get a raise? And if you were the one being fired, would you fight to change their minds? Though not necessarily intentional, it is an interesting exploration of utilitarianism. On the face of it, it sure seems like a "greater good" for 9 out of 10 people to get a raise. But what of that one person? Do their feelings matter if statistically everything is better?