Rust and Bone

Jacques Audiard returned to the forefront of french cinema in 2012 with this deep character study of two unfortunate souls finding temporary peace within each other. Marion Cotillard, despite her undeniable stature and centrefold above, is nothing but a proud second best to the main powerhouse that is Matthias Schoenaerts' display of a struggling single father. Both however are impeccable in a directorial effort that plays on their somber outlook on life, and with magnified detail their performances shine through Audiard's gritty lens.

Schoenarts plays Ali, a 20-something year old farther forced to steal to provide for his 5 year old son Sam. He moves in with his sister and gets a job as a bouncer, where he meets Stephanie (Cortillard), escorting her home after she is beaten in a bar fight. Stephanie is a local orca trainer, and one day later, she suffers a horrible accident and is is injured, forcing both her legs to be amputated. She relies on the friendship and help of Ali, who is also struggling between being a farther and pursuing his own pleasures of womanizing and street boxing. The two, both unfortunate in life, find calm in each others company, but their relationship develops haphazardly, creating just as many problems as it solves. 

Cortillard's acting may be somewhat superior, her facial expression alone delves so much into her character's function as she lets her life be enveloped by Ali's. She loves him so much but fears revealing her emotion, knowing such could scare him off, leaving her with nothing. Audiard lets the camera linger over Cotillard's face, letting us look into her eyes and soul and see the inner workings of Stephanie. Similarly to Ali, moments in which the camera looms closely shows how he loves his son, but knows fully well he isn't a good father. Both fully embrace their characters, and with the well guided hand of the director they can show off a deep insight through the acting alone, allowing us to build empathy and sympathy for their great misfortunes.

The narrative isn't the strongest point, but it's strength is that it gives us time to build our relationship with the characters, having prolonged scenes without dialogue so that our mind can run over whats happening. Audiard sticks the landing and it's a nice sentiment to close, as with all their bad luck, we see a window of opportunity to a better life. Whether they take it or not is left for us to ponder, but we hope they do, and Audiard has succeeded simply for making us want that. 

Director: Jacques Audiard

Run Time: 117 Minutes

Nationality: Belgium/France

IMDB Rating: 7.5

My Grade:
B