Headlined by a superb performance from Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night features filmmaking brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne at their profound, moralistic best.
Belgium filmmaking duo the Dardenne brothers have made a career of creating films with a strong sense of morality and of self-worth. The attainment of employment is a big factor to their stories and characters, and as a result they remind why to work for a living, for a family, and for a future is not only a right but a blessing.
For Sandra (Marion Cotillard) that blessing is one to be fought for, with her barley there job at a solar panel factory in jeopardy when her co-workers opt for hefty bonuses in exchange for her dismissal. Still feeling the effects of a mental breakdown, Sandra has the weekend to visit her co-workers one by one and convince them to change their minds, not an easy task when living in such economically straining times.
While we do feel for Sandra’s plight, the treacherous journey she undertakes is not as black and white as day is to night. There are a lot of emotions that come into play when it comes to job security and especially when it comes to money, so it’s only natural that when asking others to forego their bonuses that resistance is met.
Sandra most definitely understands this, and Cotillard plays her characters hesitations and fears to a perfect pitch, portraying Sandra’s jangle of nerves and anxieties with a heartbreaking clarity that’s also filled with fight, as she conquers one confrontation after another battling both the odds and a depression that can cripple her resolve at any moment.
What’s interesting is how the Dardenne brothers stage these scenes in an almost repetitive manner, with Sandra locating her co-worker, stating her case (word for word for each person) and waiting for the reaction. Some are sympathetic, others are not, and then there is the few who react with violence.
It is an expert use of confrontation to create great drama, and from that great drama arises quite the potent tale about principles in the face of hardship. As created by the Dardenne brothers and portrayed by Cotillard, Sandra is a character worth our support and emotional investment. Two Days, One Night may seem simple in execution, but there is a lot of power to its craft. |