Deux Jours, Un Nuit

Directors: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne

Producers: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd

Stars: Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione

Cannes veterans Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne waste no time diving straight into the main conflict that propels Deux Jours, Un Nuit. Through a series of successive long shots, the Dardennes succinctly establish the central conflict in the film and reveal several main character traits of our protagonist, Sandra, (played by the always astounding Marion Cotillard). It is this bare bones, almost minimalist approach that works so incredibly well for the story the Dardennes have decided to tell. Sandra, upon returning to her job after a long bout with depression, discovers that her co-workers have voted to choose a substantial bonus in lieu of Sandra's return to the company. On a Friday afternoon, suspecting that one of her co-workers deceitfully manipulated the vote in favor of the bonus, one of Sandra's co-workers convinces her boss to conduct a secret ballot the following Monday. Sandra then has just two days and one night to convince her co-workers to forgo their bonus in order to allow Sandra to return.

The Dardennes do an excellent job of stepping out of the way and letting the story tell itself. Perhaps excluding some of those in attendance at the world premiere Tuesday night, virtually everyone can relate to the financial anxiety of having to make ends meet. This is a timely story about the economic hardships of a working-class family. It doesn't need to be embellished with unique camera shots, choppy editing, or a touching musical score to feel authentic; it just does. Several times throughout the film, we are privy to long shots (sometimes spanning two or three minutes) of moments with Sandra, her husband Manu (Fabrizio Rongione in a wonderfully understated role), and her two children. We rarely get any close ups of our main characters, enhancing the idea that we are merely spectators of a family drama that actually doesn't feel like the movies at all. We never really feel as if we are watching a slice of compelling cinema; rather, we are sort of rudely eavesdropping on real life.

Almost every aspect of the film is very “un-cinematic”. Cotillard rarely sports anything other than a colored tank top and jeans throughout the entire film; in fact, it would be easy to believe that all of the actors just brought their costumes from home. As mentioned before, there is no real musical score to speak of and nothing elaborate whatsoever about the set decoration. To envelop the film in any sort of visual flair would betray the sense of realism that the actors and story so perfectly establish.

In this sense, Two Days, One Night is the aesthetic inverse of many of the art-house films that populate the Cannes Film Festival every year. Though this is undoubtedly painting with broad strokes, it is also the narrative inverse of the many “deliberately paced” (read:boring) films that screen at Cannes. While Mr. Turner may have been beautifully rendered and extraordinarily well-acted, it was at times much less than engaging. In fact, the man I was sitting next to at the premiere slipped into a comically loud snore on more than one occasion. However, Two Days, One Night is never boring. Each encounter with a co-worker helps further establish a cohesive story but still remains wonderfully unique. All of these interactions are authentic and compelling. We smile when Sandra is successful in convincing a co-worker to vote for her and we angrily clench our fists when she is rejected. But the Dardennes do a wonderful job of straying clear of black and white character development. Though there are a few characters that coldly deny Sandra, many do so with a heavy heart and tears. This internal struggle, along with Sandra's own internal struggle to psychologically remain in one piece, is a potent force throughout the film.

No one really expects anything less than a world-class performance from Cotillard, and she and the rest of the cast do not disappoint. While Cotillard has of course become a glamorous movie star for playing flashy roles like Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose, and even crossing over into blockbuster territory with Inception and The Dark Knight Rises, her performance is beautifully subtle and restrained. Her voice is clipped and tinged with an anxious rasp, conveying the palpable sense of mental anguish she carries with her wherever she goes.

Two Days, One Night is a fascinating, genuine look into a world most of us already know very well. This is precisely what makes it a story worth telling. The Dardennes have done a near perfect job of it, creating a emotionally gripping drama that deserved every second of its 15-minute standing ovation Tuesday night.

Running Time: 95 min.