Cinema 21: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

“We are the same: one person, four eyes” – Jean-Pierre Dardenne, on working with his brother Luc. (from the Guardian Unlimited, 2/9/06)

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Belgian filmmaking brothers with a heavy dose of social consciousness, shot to international acclaim with 1996’s La Promesse, which functioned as both an examination of a father-son relationship as well as an inside look at the underbelly of immigration. They built on that success with 1999’s Rosetta, a film featuring a stark and riveting performance by newcomer Emilie Dequenne. Rosetta focused on its lead character’s search for normalcy in poor economic conditions, particularly an obsession over finding a steady job. The Dardenne brothers have continued their string of successes, both critically and commercially, with The Son (2002), L’Enfant (2005) and Lorna’s Silence (2008).

“Film-makers in Belgium are seen as arts and crafts makers. It is a small country. There is not really a film industry there at all.” – Luc Dardenne (from the Guardian Unlimited, 2/9/06)

Jean-Pierre was born in 1951 in Belgium. His brother Luc was born three years later. In their youth, the Dardennes’ father, who gave the boys a strong Catholic upbringing, was not a fan of entertainment (although, in one of life’s little ironies, their mother was an operetta singer). Television and movies were forbidden. “We don’t have any kind of cinema memory; we got there late in life. In our village, every year there was a fete and at the end, they gave us a pair of shoes and a ski jacket and showed us a movie. That was our first time.”(1) Jean-Pierre’s father was rather aghast and disappointed when his son decided to study drama and acting while Luc studied philosophy. Eventually, the two interests melded into one, and they took up filmmaking at the prodding of French theater and film director Armand Gatti (El otro Cristóbal), who was clearly a major influence on their work. “We became Gatti’s assistants, which meant all sorts of things, like keeping him company while he ate,” Jean-Pierre recalled. “He told us to look into video, so we started by recording his work and the people he interviewed.”(1) The Dardennes’ earliest documentaries focused on the working class in Belgium. What follows is a very interesting take on the early work of the Dardenne brothers by Luc Dardenne, from The Guardian Unlimited (2/11/06).

Luc Dardenne: “I think it’s because we met a theatre director and writer, Armand Gatti, who had fought with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, when he was 18. He wrote and made films, and in 1960, he made a great film called L’enclos. He then came to Belgium and was teaching at the drama school where my brother was studying, and that’s how we met. We worked with him, and when he went to Germany, he left us, and we wondered what we could do. He worked with a camera, which we’d never touched before. So we worked for some months (at a concrete factory) to earn money to buy a video camera. And then we did the kind of things he had been doing, making portraits of people. For him, this was an extension of his theatre work, but for us, we were interested in going to the workers’ areas. A lot of these workers’ estates have no communal space, and so there’s no place for people to talk to each other, so we decided that we would go and film these people and tell their stories, perhaps of moments in their lives where they come up against some injustice. So we would film them during the week and then on the weekend show the films in a café or a local church. And that was a way for people to see and listen to other people in the same estate. We did that for a few years, and then we started to build on that experience and to write our own stories. That’s how it developed.”

The Dardenne brothers would move from simply making documentaries to, in 1975, founding their own documentary production company, Derives. This company still exists today, and Jean-Pierre and Luc have produced over 60 documentaries. However, there was an element of control missing in the documentary process. As the brothers grew restless with a truth they felt they could not manipulate, they turned to filming fiction with the short film about editing a film, Il Court, Il Court, Le Monde (1987), which is a rather comedic and surrealist exercise that shows nothing of the style they would later become famous for. Later that same year, they would try their hands at a feature film with Falsch, a drama about a Jewish family killed by Nazis. They would then direct Je Pense A Vous in 1992, which is a film they show open disdain for. Their experiences on this film would mirror the lack of control they felt over their documentary subjects. While Je Pense A Vous won an award for its lead actress, the brothers have commented on several occasions that they felt they were compromised severely in the creative process in this film. This left the Dardennes feeling a bit anxious as they released La Promesse in 1996. “When we showed La Promesse to Cannes, we were at our wits’ end,” Luc recalls. “We were afraid of the reception because our last movie had been a disaster and if La Promesse hadn’t worked, we would have stopped making movies.”(1)

Their fears proved unfounded, because La Promesse not only worked, it became a breakout success, winning several international film awards, including the nod for Best Foreign Film from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards. In La Promesse, we see the style that the Dardennes have become famous for – long takes, handheld cameras, very little dialogue, no musical cues, a host of non-professional actors, and a story set in Seraing, Belgium, with characters struggling in poor economic conditions. The film intertwines a story about the relationship between fourteen year old Igor, his immigrant smuggling father Roger, and the harsh conditions of the Belgian “working” class. It focuses on a promise Igor makes to Amidu, one of Roger’s immigrant workers who lay dying after an accident. Igor swears to take care of Amidu’s wife Assita and her child, an assurance that can only be effectively executed at the expense of Igor’s relationship with Roger. However, instead of devolving into the ridiculous sentimentality that a plot like this might lend itself to, the story becomes less about the promise and more about Igor’s confession to Assita about his role in the death of her husband. This illustrates one of the recurring themes of the Dardennes’ movies. “Without a doubt, what we’re most preoccupied with is the idea that guilt allows people to change. It imprisons people, but then they take stock of what they’ve done.” (Luc Dardenne, from Sight & Sound, April 2006).

Whereas La Promesse proved to be a vindicating success, their next film, Rosetta must have been nothing short of earth-shattering. Winner of the Palm d’Or award at Cannes, as well as numerous other awards, Rosetta takes the style the Dardennes established in their previous film and finely hones it. Once again set against the backdrop of the lower-class workings of Belgium, Rosetta changes the dynamic from father-son to mother-daughter. The film opens at a fever pitch – here’s a woman we know nothing about, running frantically down hallways, screaming about how unfair it is that she’s lost her job. She confronts a coworker she thinks has betrayed her, she yells at her manager, and she even tries to hide from security in an effort to just stay in the building, irrationally hoping that somehow she’ll be able to keep this job. From that bombastic opening, we then get to see her home life – she lives in a trailer, she’s a loner, and her mother is an unrepentant alcoholic. As Rosetta struggles to find her way in the world, a glimmer of hope and opportunity comes in the form of Riquet, a man who sells waffles (yes, that’s BELGIAN waffles) at a local stand. He wants to befriend her, and maybe more, but Rosetta struggles with the conflict between her burgeoning friendship and the life she has wanted for herself. There is no easy truth to this movie, because there is no “and here’s the resolution spelled out for you” ending. As with La Promesse, the story feels as though it will simply move on without the viewer once the movie ends, and you are left with your own conclusions. However, just as with that previous film, there is an undefined glimmer of hope at the end for our central character who has gone through such trauma.

One other interesting aspect of the Dardennes first two films is the social awareness, which some might even call social activism. La Promesse deals with illegal immigration and what immigrants can have to deal with coming into a new country. Forced to surrender their passports to their smuggler, they are coerced into paying unreasonable rent in an almost unlivable tenement, and then are offered a “bargain” – they can work for their smuggler, in this case Roger, in exchange for reduced rent. As the movie progresses, we also see Assita’s child getting a fever, and her extremely reluctant to seek out medical care, partly in fear of deportation. The Dardennes never shy away from showing us any aspect of this. Their presentation comes off as very real and very bleak. Rosetta shows us the difficulty in trying to climb off the bottom rung of the economic ladder, as she is constantly either trying to sell clothing for money or find herself a steady job. This apparently inspired what is known now in Belgium as “the Rosetta Law,” which helps to safeguard teenage workers in Belgium from working for less than fair pay. However, as nice as that story is, “it was pure chance”, Jean-Pierre insists. “There was already a bill going through, and the minister took advantage of our award to call it the Rosetta Law. But we never intended to get laws changed.” Luc adds: “Of course, we always hope our films will speak to people, disturb them, but we never hoped to change the world.” (from the Independent, 3/17/06)

After the success of Rosetta, the brothers moved on to The Son, featuring regular collaborator Olivier Gourmet as a carpentry teacher forced to confront an emotional reality that he had been trying to move away from for years. As in the previous two films, The Son opens in what seems to be the middle of the story, as if part or maybe the majority of the film has already happened, and it unfolds in a very real way. This film also is where their “style” also settles in tremendously. The camerawork here seems to meld to Olivier’s character. As he frantically scurries about the school, looking for information on a new student who has arrived and wants to get into Olivier’s class, we can feel his sense of urgency, although most of what we see is his back – the camera is constantly chasing him, it is obsessed with him. But in what seems like direct contravention to this, Olivier is a very reticent man, and as such we are never fully able to dive into his character until he reaches his point of catharsis at the very end. One thematic difference in The Son is the not so subtle blend of Christianity in the story, although the Dardennes dispute that this has to be the interpretation. Olivier is a carpenter, and the crux of the story is his ability to forgive another person who has wronged him. While most people familiar with the teachings of Christianity would draw the obvious conclusion, the Dardennes have gone on record saying that while they see nothing wrong with finding that meaning in the film, that was certainly not their intent. What follows is from an interview with Cineaste in 2003 (edited for brevity).

Luc: “The idea of a carpenter came from the fact that carpenters are always measuring. Once we had decided on a carpenter the scenario was easy to do because we knew what woodworkers are, how skillful they are, how they wear overalls with a special pocket for their folding ruler, how they use a pencil to mark. . . . Most significantly we chose carpentry as a trade for Olivier because in the end—if you consider the film in terms of a purely cinematographic sense of form—you have a man and a boy, and between them a murder that is of special significance to Olivier. How will they be able to approach each other? They are closed up in a car, for example. How will we be able to calculate, to measure the distance between these two bodies? We have that night scene where Francis measures the distance between his foot and Olivier’s. And when the moment comes for them to touch each other, will it be to forgive or to kill? Thinking about carpentry really allowed us to understand what we were trying to do in this film. . . . Certainly when we set out to make this film we were aware that Christ was the son of a carpenter; and, therefore, that his father must have taught him a little of the trade. And that Christ died on a wooden cross. However, that was not our point of departure. I can understand how a Christian might say he or she sees the story as being about forgiveness. Why not? We, however, did not take the pardon all the way to its conclusion.”

It wasn’t until 2005 that the Dardennes came back with another film, this time the excellent L’Enfant, their second Palm d’Or winner at Cannes. Jeremie Renier, who played the young Igor almost ten years earlier in La Promesse, this time plays Bruno, a bottom of the barrel hustler who will scam anyone in search of the almighty dollar and a good time. In spite of his many disappearances, and even his subletting their apartment, his girlfriend Sonia (Deborah Francois) fawns over him endlessly, even with a new baby in their life. But everything changes drastically once Bruno sells his baby. The issue of human trafficking may have signaled to some a return to “social issue roots” for the Dardennes, but they were less interested in the act of selling a human being and more interested in the character who would do that. “We were mainly interested in Bruno’s moral evolution . . . the film is about the birth of his conscience.” (Luc, from Film Journal International, 3/1/06) L’Enfant also found itself being critically linked with Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket, which would be high praise for most films (the brothers are also compared to Ken Loach quite frequently), but Jean-Pierre approaches the topic with caution. “It’s true that we’ve seen Pickpocket and admire it. But we didn’t realize that there were parallels between that film and ours until we completed it.” (Film Journal International, 3/1/06)

Lorna’s Silence, the latest film from Jean-Pierre and Luc, is also fascinated with a character, although in this case, a much different one than Bruno. Lorna is a much disciplined Albanian woman who has entered into an arranged marriage with a drug addict for citizenship. The plan of her gangster partners is to kill the junkie and use Lorna’s newfound citizenship. In turn, she will marry a wealthy Russian criminal who seeks his own Belgian citizenship. She is also able to balance these machinations with her real love life. It all works fine until Lorna sees the addict, Claudy, getting clean and finding hope through her in his life. In a vulnerable moment, Lorna and Claudy find solace with each other, leading to what may be a pregnant Lorna and some very unhappy Albanian gangsters. While Lorna’s Silence features many of the brothers’ trademarks, the plot on paper seems a little more “Hollywood mafia” than “Dardenne.” However, the movie itself never becomes as ridiculous as it could be because of the brothers’ singular focus on Lorna. Other characters appear in and out of the story, but the camera stays firmly planted on Lorna. “We wanted to watch Lorna, watch Lorna, watch Lorna,’ Luc says. ‘You have to watch her because she is mysterious, and to understand her we had to distance ourselves. That’s why the camera is further out than usual and moves much less.” (Time Out London, 11/24/08) Although the film was not as well received critically as most of their previous films, it is certainly one that slides nicely into the brothers’ filmography.

The Dardennes have certainly kept busy since the release of La Promesse in 1996. Aside from their films, they’ve also released two books, Rosetta et La Promesse in 1999 and Au dos de nos images 1991-2005: Suivi de Le Fils et L’Enfant in 2005. Aside from their other responsibilities with Derives, they are also now the presidents of Europa Distribution, described as “the France-based collective for independent European distributors”. Members in its network include Cineart (Belgium) and Artificial Eye (U.K.). Given their current pace of releasing a film every three years, the next film from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne would be released in 2011.

Also, a list of some of the favorite films of the Dardenne brothers can be found here:
http://www.theauteurs.com/lists/5151

(1) International Herald Tribune, 10/29/02

Excellent Intro, Kai. I’ve only seen L’ Enfant and I liked it quite a bit. I didn’t see any serious parallels with Bresson’s film. I would like to watch Rosetta next having heard so much about it.

I didn’t necessarily see the correlation to Pickpocket, either, but a lot of critics sure did. It came up four times that I can remember in various articles. L’Enfant is my favorite, but Rosetta and The Son would be the easy next two choices.

I definitely thought of Pickpocket when I watched L’Enfant which happens to be my favorite film by the Dardennes.

Thank you so much for this excellent writeup, Kai. There’s a lot to digest.

Yeah, and Rosetta is sort of their version of Mouchette.

The most common comparisons came generally in this order:
Robert Bresson
Ken Loach
Roberto Rossellini
The Dogme 95 movement

And for all that, they seem to be most interested in being compared to Armand Gatti (for obvious reasons). They freely admit being influenced by Fritz Lang, as well.

A lot of critics also agreed with your take on Mouchette, Columbiatch.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Dardenne Brothers’ career, Kai. I also find the camera that tends to follow the protagonists around (most strikingly in “The Son” as you’ve pointed out) to be a fascinating trademark of their work, which distinguishes them from the directors they’re most frequently compared to. It gives them the change to look at the characters from a different viewpoint than most films do, and especially focus on their seemingly irrational behaviour (like Rosetta’s betrayal or Bruno’s child trading). Especially Bruno’s behaviour makes me wonder wether the title of the film actually refers to him, he’s obviously too immature to take care of a child, and we also see him fooling around with his girlfriend as if were a child himself. “Lorna’s Silence” was the only film by the Dardenne’s that rather disappointed me, and I think that it didn’t provide the insight into a character’s ambivalent actions as their previous films managed to do.

Thanks for the kind words, Apur. The Dardenne brothers’ intrusive camera, eating up every detail of the character it is following, really defines their films. I definitely thought it especially perfect for following Olivier in The Son, and really, for Rosetta as well, as her character is tremendously frantic at times. The Son, for me, is the pinnacle of their style, as the story and the camerawork fit perfectly, absolutely perfectly. That is one of those films I just don’t know could be made effectively any other way. For all that, I think L’Enfant is their best overall film. It’s interesting that you note that the title could refer to Bruno – I actually thought it could apply to almost everyone in that movie. The baby, for obvious reasons, and Bruno, because he is an overgrown boy (even using children as the accomplices to his crimes), but Sonia, also, because she is a girl who is only mortified by Bruno’s behavior AFTER he sells her baby. She’s much more interested in buying jackets and goofing off in the park with Bruno at the beginning of the film than she is concerned about the fact that her apartment has been sublet by her low-life boyfriend while she was giving birth. And I agree, Lorna’s Silence is their weakest effort. It isn’t bad, but it lacked the punch of their previous works.

As a side note, the one regret I have over this intro is that I hadn’t seen Armand Gatti’s Enclosure prior to writing it. I watched it last night, and I think I may do a short piece about it on this thread. In short, it’s really obvious how influential this film is structure-wise to the Dardennes, and it’s a marvelous film in it’s own right.

Kai—I’ll be watching my first Dardenne this week, and I’ll be back to discuss my thoughts, but in the meantime I thought I’d add to the discussion with this: Unspoken Cinema’s Dardenne masterclass 2010 (Paris)

I’m waiting to watch it until after I’ve seen at least one of their films, so I can’t vouch for the content, but Unspoken Cinema is a reliable source.

J

Wow, great article, Kai. Thanks so much…

I fell in love with the Dardennes after THE SON, though I had seen three others prior. Like many, LORNA was too scripted for me, which is interesting since it won best script at Cannes!

A couple notes:

1) Have you seen their short film made for “Chacun son Cinema” celebrating Cannes 60th? Their short beautifully utilizes Bresson’s BALTHAZAR. It’s phenomenal!

2) When I watched THE WRESTLER, I immediately thought THE SON. I wonder if Aronofsky was inspired by it or the Dardennes in general.

BTW, are you the Kai that directed a film with Gavin Fisher recently?

Peace…

Darn, I’m BUMMED the interview in the link above is not translated. Over an hour with the Dardenne Brothers and i can’t understand – tragic!

FMF… I’ll translate it for you this week, when I get through some other stuff.

T: The translation would be great, if you can fit it in your schedule. :)

Follow My Film: Glad you enjoyed the intro! The Son is one of their two best, for me. I love that the camera simply feels attached to Olivier in that movie. To answer your questions, though, no, unfortunately, I don’t direct films, I just like watching them. Would have been cool if life had taken that path, though haha. I haven’t seen The Wrestler, but certainly, it wouldn’t surprise me to see some of the Dardenne influence on that movie. As for the Cannes shorts, I was aware of it, though I haven’t watched it. I will try and make time at some point . . . the nice thing about this thread is that the intro is there, but I can update anything at any time. Yay, Cinema 21 project!

Tobias: a translation would be absolutely incredible! Wow….

Kai: You’ve got to get your hands on the Cannes shorts DVD. You ought to be able to find it on-line. It really is an amazing collections of short films by living masters of cinema.

l’Enfant was great, and now I’m very much interested in the rest of their oeuvre. The way the film begins is an interesting choice—Sonia in the middle of climbing a flight of stairs. Not walking up to the stairs, but in the middle of her ascent—which is jarring and perfectly mirrors the film’s theme of transition.

Each location was brilliantly chosen—urban desolation, the sick color of the water, the unimaginable living conditions. There is a class of people like this in every urban area though they are seldom talked about. Reminded me of Cyclo in that sense.

Top notch acting all around. Very good film, and since it shares the lead actor I think I’ll be on to Le Promesse next.

Glad you liked L’Enfant, Josh. La Promesse is a fine movie, and certainly the Dardennes’ breakthrough feature, but please, please check out The Son. As far as their “stable of actors” go, certainly none appears more than Olivier Gourmet, who only has a bit part in L’Enfant, but who carries the enormity of knowledge (and screen time) in The Son. It’s really an excellent piece, certainly right there with the best the Dardennes have to offer.

My favourite film by the Dardenne brothers is probably Le Fils (The Son), followed by Rosetta and La Promesse.

Does anyone know if this link: Unspoken Cinema’s Dardenne masterclass 2010 has been translated to English anywhere?

That would be phenomenal…

I’ve written an article/short essay on Rosetta over at http://kubrickontheguillotine.com if any of you would like to take a look? Thanks.