My Review: Rust and Bone (9/10)

¨What have you done with my legs? ¨

Forget about Amour, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, or A Royal Affair; the best foreign films of 2012 came from France. The first was The Intouchables, about a quadriplegic millionaire who hires the help of a young man from the projects, while Rust and Bone centers around another unlikely relationship between a killer whale trainer and a boxer. These two were my favorite foreign films by far, and I especially enjoyed this one because I am a huge fan of director Jacques Audiard who in 2009 directed the Oscar nominated A Prophet. That film was much more suspenseful as it centered on a prisoner who manages to survive inside a corrupted prison system. This time, Audiard focuses on a dramatic romantic story between two tortured souls who truly learn to live after they have suffered severe physical injuries. More than a character study, this film is a soul study as the two lead characters find healing under extremely rare circumstances. We are introduced to these characters in a very realistic manner. These people are afflicted in some way or another; they aren’t your usual likeable lead characters; they are deeply flawed, but we sympathize with them. Like he did in A Prophet, Audiard adapted the screenplay with the assistance of Thomas Bidegain based on the short stories from Canadian author Craig Davidson. Audiard´s film was nominated for the Palm d´Or in last year´s Cannes Film Festival and is really worth checking out. Some people had an issue with the ending because they thought everything fit together a little too neatly, but I thought the final act was probably the best and most satisfying part of this film. Our physical struggles and bonds can end up strengthening our tortured souls and making us better human beings.

A former boxer, Alain (Matthias Schoenaerts from Bullhead), decides to move from Belgium to the south of France where his sister, Louise (Celine Sallette), lives after he is put in charge of his young son, Sam (Armand Verdure). He isn’t very responsible, so he knows his sister can help him raising his son while he finds a job. He finds one as a local bouncer at a disco where he meets Stephanie (Marion Cotillard), a professional killer whale trainer at Marineland, after escorting her back home due to a brawl. They exchange numbers but don´t see each other again. Alain find a job as a security guard at a local store where he meets Martial (Bouli Lanners) who convinces him to begin fighting again. Martial runs an underground kickboxing tournament where he introduces Alain and they begin making some money off it. Meanwhile Stephanie continues her life at the marine land, until she suffers a freak accident and loses both her legs. Heavily depressed she calls Alain and the two begin to form a special bond. She begins to go out more and even joins Alain when he goes off to fight. The two begin to support each other, and despite their brokenness they begin to help each other out.    

Audiard is a master at creating depth and pays close attention to these random characters that end up bonding with each other, but he couldn’t have succeeded if it weren’t for the two terrific lead performances from Matthias Schoenaerts and Marion Cotillard. Cotillard was remarkable and should have received a nomination, and somehow Schoenaerts manages to make his character likeable despite all his flaws. There is something in the way he treats Stephanie that seems to erase all his flaws and make us want him to achieve his personal goals. The actors managed to create a rather unique and authentic relationship and for me it worked really well. Every scene that at first felt unnecessary seems to have a purpose or a symbolism later on, like the way Alain looked at Stephanie´s legs when he was escorting her home. Later he wins a fight he was about to lose when he catches a glimpse of Stephanie´s prosthetic legs. Somehow in the midst of pain, he finds greater strength, and that is what makes this film so appealing. Everything which seemed so random at first seems to come together perfectly at the end. This is one of those films that stay with you long after the credits roll, and it is deeply touching and moving. This is one of those films that is driven by the performances and the overall narrative of the story. The visual effects of Cotillard´s legs (or lack thereof) are also pretty well done. Everything about this film makes it one you will definitely want to check out. It is real, it is raw, and it is touching.

  

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My Review: Un Prophete (9/10)

¨In exchange I offer you protection…If you don`t kill him, I`ll kill you. ¨

Jacques Audiard directs this great French prison film which is perhaps the best gangster movie I´ve seen since The Goodfellas. It has some great scenes combining violent action sequences with a character driven plot. Audiard has created a masterpiece; the entire film takes place mostly in the prison and he worked with ex convicts in order to set the right mood. Un Prophete (A Prophet) was nominated for Best Foreign Film in the Oscars and lost to the Argentinean movie, El Secreto de Sus Ojos, which was also a great character driven film. Audiard not only directed the film, but he also co-wrote the adaptation of the script along with Thomas Bidegain. It is an interesting character study on how an innocent man gets involved with the wrong people and becomes entangled in a life of crime. There is something symbolic about his illiteracy as he learns how to read in prison, and he also learns how the mob works by serving and getting involved with them, therefore the prison became his school both in a positive and negative way. When I watched this movie I couldn´t help but compare several scenes with such classic movies as Scarface, The Godfather and The Goodfellas. This movie does have its flaws, for instance, women are depicted poorly as the few female characters are either prostitutes or weak minded, but the story makes up for it along with the lead actors who give terrific performances.

A nineteen year old Franco-Arab, named Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim), has just been sent to prison for six years in Brecourt for assaulting a police officer. He is alone in prison without any friends and has to learn how to survive. At first he tries to stay in the down low, but solitary convicts are the easiest prey. The prisoners are divided in two groups, the Muslims on the one hand and the Corsicans, who seem to be in control of the prison because they have several connections with the guards, on the other. Malik is an Arab, but he doesn`t practice their religion so he doesn`t seem to fit with the Muslims and he isn´t Corsican either. Cesar Luciani (Niels Arestrup) is the leader of the Corsicans inside the prison and after a new Arab prisoner arrives who happens to be a key witness against one of them, Cesar has to find a way of killing him before the trial. The problem is that since he is an Arab he can´t get to close to him and therefore realizes that Malik is the right person for the job. The Corsicans force Malik to kill him and offer protection in return, although Malik doesn`t really have an option because if he doesn`t comply they will kill him. Malik, despite being an Arab, begins serving the Corsicans and little by little wins the confidence of Cesar, although he is seen by the rest of the mobsters as a dirty Arab. Malik begins learning how to read and befriends his teacher, Ryad (Adel Bencherif), and at the same time he begins learning Corsican and the mobster lifestyle. Little by little Malik begins to learn more about criminal life and slowly begins to rise. He is not the same person he was when he arrived at the prison.

Un Prophete has a very interesting plot, but it works in the most part because of the great performances given by the lead actors Tahir Rahim and Niels Arestrup who are just outstanding and very believable in their roles. The success of a character driven movie depends most of the time on the actors, and newcomer Tahir Rahim gives an Oscar worthy performance. The movie is about two and a half hours long and requires your full attention because of the parallel action sequences, but the movie doesn`t seem to drag at any point and it never gets to a point where you begin to lose interest. Un Prophet is an excellent film and one you will enjoy. It is definitely worth your time so I recommend you check this movie out.

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