This is a peach of a movie.
If you like continental European films and have a penchant for a gritty, realistic genre, which brings the dramas of everyday life to the big screen in totally believable and original ways, then this is a film you shouldn't miss.
This Belgium offering was directed by the multi-award winning (Cannes) brothers, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, and stars the beautiful French actress, Marion Cotillard, who had to learn to speak with a Belgian accent and 'dress down' to make her look more 'ordinary'. Cotillard will never look totally ordinary, but she does a wonderful job of making you believe that she is a struggling young Belgian mother who is recovering from depression and receives some devastating news from her employer.
Her workmates had been asked to vote – either for her to be dismissed and still receive their annual bonuses, or to let her continue to work and, as a result, forfeit their bonuses. The film relates the young wife's efforts over a single weekend to try and persuade the staff to change their minds after her boss agrees to hold a new ballot on the Monday morning.
It doesn't sound like much, but trust me, it is riveting.
I don't know why, but one of the user reviewers has compared this film to Lost in Translation, which I personally think was a boring load of nonsense. The truth is that this film is nothing like 'Lost in Translation'. This is a film full of heart-wrenching emotion, which explores the good, the bad, the selfishness and the generosity of the human spirit as the young mother embarks on a series of one- to-one meetings – sometimes confrontations – with her fellow employees, over a long weekend.
Collitard is just superb in the role and is well deserving of the film's single Oscar Nomination for Best Actress. All the supporting actors, representing today's diverse Belgian society, also act their hearts out as working class folk, trying to make ends meet during the recession and desperate to keep hold of their bonuses for one reason or another.
It is a truly 21st-century moral dilemma.
Needless to say, both the professional and user movie critics are pretty much united in their views that this is a very fine film. Collitard was nominated for Best Actress Oscar for her wonderful portrayal in this film; but of course, as usual, it went to one of the Hollywood 'in' set.
If you like continental European films and have a penchant for a gritty, realistic genre, which brings the dramas of everyday life to the big screen in totally believable and original ways, then this is a film you shouldn't miss.
This Belgium offering was directed by the multi-award winning (Cannes) brothers, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, and stars the beautiful French actress, Marion Cotillard, who had to learn to speak with a Belgian accent and 'dress down' to make her look more 'ordinary'. Cotillard will never look totally ordinary, but she does a wonderful job of making you believe that she is a struggling young Belgian mother who is recovering from depression and receives some devastating news from her employer.
Her workmates had been asked to vote – either for her to be dismissed and still receive their annual bonuses, or to let her continue to work and, as a result, forfeit their bonuses. The film relates the young wife's efforts over a single weekend to try and persuade the staff to change their minds after her boss agrees to hold a new ballot on the Monday morning.
It doesn't sound like much, but trust me, it is riveting.
I don't know why, but one of the user reviewers has compared this film to Lost in Translation, which I personally think was a boring load of nonsense. The truth is that this film is nothing like 'Lost in Translation'. This is a film full of heart-wrenching emotion, which explores the good, the bad, the selfishness and the generosity of the human spirit as the young mother embarks on a series of one- to-one meetings – sometimes confrontations – with her fellow employees, over a long weekend.
Collitard is just superb in the role and is well deserving of the film's single Oscar Nomination for Best Actress. All the supporting actors, representing today's diverse Belgian society, also act their hearts out as working class folk, trying to make ends meet during the recession and desperate to keep hold of their bonuses for one reason or another.
It is a truly 21st-century moral dilemma.
Needless to say, both the professional and user movie critics are pretty much united in their views that this is a very fine film. Collitard was nominated for Best Actress Oscar for her wonderful portrayal in this film; but of course, as usual, it went to one of the Hollywood 'in' set.