Banijay Nordic’s banner Yellow Bird is set to produce “A Life’s Worth,” a drama series inspired by real events within the Bosnian conflict in the 1990s. The show is being produced by Arte France and Viaplay Content Distribution which will also handle global sales.
“A Life’s Worth” is set in the fall of 1993, amid the devastating turmoil unfurling in Bosnia. Swedish U.N. soldiers embark on a perilous mission to bring peace to a fractured land. The series follows the journey of a group of young soldiers and their commander as they struggle with the complexities of war.
The show is headlined by a strong cast including Edvin Ryding (“Young Royals”), Maxwell Cunningham (“Top Dog”), Erik Enge (“Tigers”), Johan Rheborg (“Solsidan”) and Toni Prince (“Drugdealer”). Additional cast members include Lazar Dragojevic, Ivana Roscic, Alena Dzebo and Alban Ukaj.
“A Life’s Worth” was co-written by Mona Masri (“Easy Money”) and Oliver Dixon,...
“A Life’s Worth” is set in the fall of 1993, amid the devastating turmoil unfurling in Bosnia. Swedish U.N. soldiers embark on a perilous mission to bring peace to a fractured land. The series follows the journey of a group of young soldiers and their commander as they struggle with the complexities of war.
The show is headlined by a strong cast including Edvin Ryding (“Young Royals”), Maxwell Cunningham (“Top Dog”), Erik Enge (“Tigers”), Johan Rheborg (“Solsidan”) and Toni Prince (“Drugdealer”). Additional cast members include Lazar Dragojevic, Ivana Roscic, Alena Dzebo and Alban Ukaj.
“A Life’s Worth” was co-written by Mona Masri (“Easy Money”) and Oliver Dixon,...
- 3/21/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Sideshow and Janus Films have dropped the clip for Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s “Tori & Lokita” which had a strong opening in New York and Los Angeles on March 24 and is expanding this weekend to additional markets.
The latest film by the two-time Palme d’Or winners, “Tori & Lokita” tells the timely story of two immigrants struggling to survive on the margins of society. The humanist drama won the 75th Anniversary Prize at Cannes in 2022.
“’Tori Lokita’ is one of the most devastating cinematic experiences I’ve had in a long time,” said Martin Scorsese in a statement sent to Variety. “I’ve always admired the way that Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne make movies—their mastery is inseparable from their spiritual and ethical commitment to their characters, trying to make their way through an unforgiving world,” Scorsese continued. He went on to describe the film as “one of the Dardennes’ most harrowing films,...
The latest film by the two-time Palme d’Or winners, “Tori & Lokita” tells the timely story of two immigrants struggling to survive on the margins of society. The humanist drama won the 75th Anniversary Prize at Cannes in 2022.
“’Tori Lokita’ is one of the most devastating cinematic experiences I’ve had in a long time,” said Martin Scorsese in a statement sent to Variety. “I’ve always admired the way that Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne make movies—their mastery is inseparable from their spiritual and ethical commitment to their characters, trying to make their way through an unforgiving world,” Scorsese continued. He went on to describe the film as “one of the Dardennes’ most harrowing films,...
- 3/31/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Despite their stock seemingly falling in the decade since the widely acclaimed Two Days, One Night, a new film by the Dardennes will always have our curiosity; even better that our critic was a major fan at Cannes. Winner of the 75th Anniversary Prize at the festival, Tori and Lokita, set to arrive from Sideshow and Janus Films starting March 24, follows the story of two immigrants struggling to survive on the margins of society. Ahead of the release, the first U.S. trailer has now arrived.
As David Katz said in his review, “Tori and Lokita, the latest from the eerily consistent Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, pulls you in opposite directions when assessing it. It is as consummately made and passionately intended as anything they’ve done, but the filmmakers, as is apparent in less-successful films, can really undermine themselves with choices in plotting. I’ll never forget viewing my first,...
As David Katz said in his review, “Tori and Lokita, the latest from the eerily consistent Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, pulls you in opposite directions when assessing it. It is as consummately made and passionately intended as anything they’ve done, but the filmmakers, as is apparent in less-successful films, can really undermine themselves with choices in plotting. I’ll never forget viewing my first,...
- 3/6/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
"This is best for us and for you." Sideshow & Janus Films have unveiled another new US trailer for the indie drama from Belgium titled Tori and Lokita, the latest film from acclaimed Belgian filmmaking brothers Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne (aka Dardenne Brothers). This premiered at last year's 2022 Cannes Film Festival to mixed & negative reviews, with only a few saying good things. Set in Belgium today, a young boy and an adolescent girl who have traveled alone from Africa pit their invincible friendship against the cruel conditions of their exile. They work for a drug dealer who also moonlights as an Italian chef, and things get bad when Lokita tries to earn more money working in the depths of a grow warehouse. The film stars Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu as Tori and Lokita, with Alban Ukaj, Tijmen Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, and Marc Zinga. It's finally opening in the US this March,...
- 3/6/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
"Why won't they give me my papers, Tori?" Picturehouse in the UK has revealed an official trailer for an indie film from Belgium titled Tori and Lokita, the latest film from acclaimed Belgian filmmaking brothers Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne (aka the Dardenne Brothers). They're regulars at the Cannes Film Festival so of course this one premiered there earlier this year. It didn't get great reviews, it's a rather manipulative and obvious film pointing out how horrible African immigrants are treated by white Belgians. Set in Belgium today, a young boy and an adolescent girl who have traveled alone from Africa pit their invincible friendship against the cruel conditions of their exile. They work for a drug dealer who also moonlights as an Italian chef, and things get bad when Lokita tries to earn more money working in the depths of a grow warehouse. The film stars Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu...
- 10/25/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Tori and Lokita, the latest from the eerily consistent Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, pulls you in opposite directions when assessing it. It is as consummately made and passionately intended as anything they’ve done, but the filmmakers, as is apparent in less-successful films, can really undermine themselves with choices in plotting. I’ll never forget viewing my first, The Son, as a student in undergrad, both marveling and being almost perturbed at what a simple, elemental conflict—a man forgiving the murderer of his child—drove the entire film and generated all its tension. As in Lorna’s Silence and The Unknown Girl, this story can’t move without plot streaming out of every corner, contrivances piling upon contrivances, the way the tape could peel out of an old analog cassette or VHS.
Comparing the Dardennes to Ken Loach, one of their most profound influences, is significant too. Film critics can...
Comparing the Dardennes to Ken Loach, one of their most profound influences, is significant too. Film critics can...
- 6/2/2022
- by David Katz
- The Film Stage
Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired North American rights for “Tori and Lokita,” the latest film by two-time Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, which world premiered in competition at Cannes. The movie was one of the best reviewed films of the competition and earned the Dardenne brothers the festival’s special 75th Anniversary Prize.
A story of human perseverance, the film is set in contemporary Belgium and follows a young boy Tori (Pablo Schils) and an adolescent girl Lokita (Joely Mbundu) who have traveled alone from Africa and pit their invincible friendship against the difficult conditions of their exile.
“Tori and Lokita” stars Pablo Schils, Joely Mbundu, Alban Ukaj, Tijman Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, and Marc Zinga. “Tori and Lokita” was produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Delphine Tomson, and Denis Freyd.
Sideshow and Janus Films are planning to release the film theatrically across the country.
A story of human perseverance, the film is set in contemporary Belgium and follows a young boy Tori (Pablo Schils) and an adolescent girl Lokita (Joely Mbundu) who have traveled alone from Africa and pit their invincible friendship against the difficult conditions of their exile.
“Tori and Lokita” stars Pablo Schils, Joely Mbundu, Alban Ukaj, Tijman Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, and Marc Zinga. “Tori and Lokita” was produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Delphine Tomson, and Denis Freyd.
Sideshow and Janus Films are planning to release the film theatrically across the country.
- 6/2/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Nationwide theatrical release planned.
Sideshow and Janus Films have announced their second Cannes acquisition in two days, taking North American rights to Tori And Lokita by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.
The Competition entry won the festival’s special 75th anniversary Prize and takes place in Belgium where young boy Tori and adolescent girl Lokita try to survive after making the long journey alone from Africa.
Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu star alongside Alban Ukaj, Tijman Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, and Marc Zinga. The Dardenne brothers produced with Delphine Tomson and Denis Freyd.
Sideshow and Janus Films plan a...
Sideshow and Janus Films have announced their second Cannes acquisition in two days, taking North American rights to Tori And Lokita by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.
The Competition entry won the festival’s special 75th anniversary Prize and takes place in Belgium where young boy Tori and adolescent girl Lokita try to survive after making the long journey alone from Africa.
Pablo Schils and Joely Mbundu star alongside Alban Ukaj, Tijman Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, and Marc Zinga. The Dardenne brothers produced with Delphine Tomson and Denis Freyd.
Sideshow and Janus Films plan a...
- 6/2/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Sideshow and Janus Films have acquired North American rights for Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s Tori and Lokita which premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and was lauded with the Festival’s Special 75th Anniversary Prize. A theatrical release from Sideshow and Janus is being planned.
Tori and Lokita stars Pablo Schils, Joely Mbundu, Alban Ukaj, Tijman Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, and Marc Zinga. The film is produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Delphine Tomson, and Denis Freyd.
In Belgium today, a young boy Tori (Pablo Schils) and an adolescent girl Lokita (Joely Mbundu) who have traveled alone from Africa pit their invincible friendship against the difficult conditions of their exile.
Sideshow and Janus Films said: “Tori and Lokita is an immediate classic and shows these master filmmakers working at their highest level, focused with a newfound intensity on the issues plaguing our time. The Dardenne...
Tori and Lokita stars Pablo Schils, Joely Mbundu, Alban Ukaj, Tijman Govaerts, Charlotte De Bruyne, Nadège Ouedraogo, and Marc Zinga. The film is produced by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Delphine Tomson, and Denis Freyd.
In Belgium today, a young boy Tori (Pablo Schils) and an adolescent girl Lokita (Joely Mbundu) who have traveled alone from Africa pit their invincible friendship against the difficult conditions of their exile.
Sideshow and Janus Films said: “Tori and Lokita is an immediate classic and shows these master filmmakers working at their highest level, focused with a newfound intensity on the issues plaguing our time. The Dardenne...
- 6/2/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
When it comes to churning out acidic commentary on the new aspirational money culture, the movies have not been shy. They’ve been up-front in showcasing, and satirizing, how the rich aren’t just getting richer but making themselves role models in the process. (It’s Kardashian Nation; we just live in it.) Ruben Östland’s Cannes sensation “Triangle of Sadness” may be the most spectacular movie statement yet about the decadence of the 21st-century playpen elite. Yet that’s the fun, sexy part of our society’s increasingly from-the-top-down distribution equation. The tragic, essential part is where the concentration of wealth leaves just about everyone else: strapped, quietly desperate, trying to claw their way through a system that feels, more and more, like it wasn’t built for them.
“Tori and Lokita,” the new movie written and directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, is just as spectacular a statement as “Triangle of Sadness.
“Tori and Lokita,” the new movie written and directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, is just as spectacular a statement as “Triangle of Sadness.
- 5/24/2022
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
The White Fortress (Tabija) Game Theory Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net, linked from Rotten Tomatoes by Harvey Karten Director: Igor Drlja?a Screenwriter: Igor Drljaca Cast: Pavle Cemerkic, Sumeja Dardagan, Jasmin Geljo, Kerim Cutuna, Alban Ukaj, Irena Mulamuhic Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 4/3/22 Opens: April 22, 2022 “The White Fortress,” is named for one of […]
The post The White Fortress (Tabija) Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post The White Fortress (Tabija) Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 4/17/2022
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Rome-based sales agency Tvco has acquired worldwide sales to Igor Drljaca’s fourth feature “The White Fortress,” which world premiered this week in the Generation 14Plus strand of this year’s Berlinale.
Drljaca’s previous credits include several award-winning shorts such as “Woman in Purple” (2010) and “The Archivists” (2020), as well as his critically-acclaimed debut feature “Krivina” (2012), his sophomore film “The Waiting Room” (2015) and his first documentary feature, “The Stone Speakers” (2018).
The film is set in a rundown Sarajevo suburb and follows Faruk, an orphan who lives with his ill grandmother and spends his days foraging for scrap metal and dabbling in petty crime. One day he meets Mona, a timid teen from a politically powerful and affluent family. As Mona dreams of escaping the overbearing toxicity of her home life, she seeks refuge and opens herself up to Faruk, a boy from a world entirely different than her own. The...
Drljaca’s previous credits include several award-winning shorts such as “Woman in Purple” (2010) and “The Archivists” (2020), as well as his critically-acclaimed debut feature “Krivina” (2012), his sophomore film “The Waiting Room” (2015) and his first documentary feature, “The Stone Speakers” (2018).
The film is set in a rundown Sarajevo suburb and follows Faruk, an orphan who lives with his ill grandmother and spends his days foraging for scrap metal and dabbling in petty crime. One day he meets Mona, a timid teen from a politically powerful and affluent family. As Mona dreams of escaping the overbearing toxicity of her home life, she seeks refuge and opens herself up to Faruk, a boy from a world entirely different than her own. The...
- 3/4/2021
- by Davide Abbatescianni
- Variety Film + TV
“Bad Blood,” an ambitious new Serbian feature film and TV series, has become the first project from the Sarajevo Film Festival’s CineLink Drama co-financing forum to go into production since the event’s establishment in 2016.
Set in the Ottoman Empire of the 19th century, “Bad Blood” is based on the works of renowned Serbian writer Borisav Stankovic and a script written by Yugoslav filmmaker Voja Nanovic in the early 1970s while he was living in New York City and working for ABC Studios as an editor. Belgrade-based This and That Productions is producing.
Spanning four decades in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire, the series chronicles an era beset by major political change and turmoil, when peasants began rising up in strength to the detriment of wealthy merchant families. It follows Trifun, the wealthy leader of the Christian minority, who, while trying to preserve his wealth and power,...
Set in the Ottoman Empire of the 19th century, “Bad Blood” is based on the works of renowned Serbian writer Borisav Stankovic and a script written by Yugoslav filmmaker Voja Nanovic in the early 1970s while he was living in New York City and working for ABC Studios as an editor. Belgrade-based This and That Productions is producing.
Spanning four decades in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire, the series chronicles an era beset by major political change and turmoil, when peasants began rising up in strength to the detriment of wealthy merchant families. It follows Trifun, the wealthy leader of the Christian minority, who, while trying to preserve his wealth and power,...
- 8/20/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
The problem with “The Marriage,” a well-meaning but structurally lopsided first feature from Yugoslavian director Blerta Zeqiri, is that the marriage plot from the title is so much less interesting than the love plot at its core.
This is a film that takes place in a cold, snowy climate, and the main male character, Bekim (Alban Ukaj), and his fiancée, Anita (Adriana Matoshi), are bundled up in the first scene as they wait outside a center for missing persons. (Anita’s parents have been missing for over 15 years.) When Bekim and Anita enter the center, we see people placing long-stemmed flowers down on numbered segments that carry the found bones of their loved ones.
The Kosovo War of the late 1990s hangs over this narrative, because any story set in Yugoslavia has to deal with it in some way. But the character of Anita in “The Marriage” does not seem...
This is a film that takes place in a cold, snowy climate, and the main male character, Bekim (Alban Ukaj), and his fiancée, Anita (Adriana Matoshi), are bundled up in the first scene as they wait outside a center for missing persons. (Anita’s parents have been missing for over 15 years.) When Bekim and Anita enter the center, we see people placing long-stemmed flowers down on numbered segments that carry the found bones of their loved ones.
The Kosovo War of the late 1990s hangs over this narrative, because any story set in Yugoslavia has to deal with it in some way. But the character of Anita in “The Marriage” does not seem...
- 12/8/2018
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
See images from the event’s opening night.
The 24th Sarajevo Film Festival got underway last night (Aug 10) with an opening ceremony that saw Nuri Bilge Ceylan receive an honorary Heart of Sarajevo award.
As per tradition, the festival had two openings: one in the National Theatre for guests and press, and another, taking place half an hour later at the 3,000-seat Open Air, for public attendees.
The ceremony was hosted by Kosovo-born, Sarajevo-based actor Alban Ukaj, who broke out internationally last year with a role in Blerta Zeqiri’s Tallinn Black Nights title Marriage.
After festival director Miro Purivatra...
The 24th Sarajevo Film Festival got underway last night (Aug 10) with an opening ceremony that saw Nuri Bilge Ceylan receive an honorary Heart of Sarajevo award.
As per tradition, the festival had two openings: one in the National Theatre for guests and press, and another, taking place half an hour later at the 3,000-seat Open Air, for public attendees.
The ceremony was hosted by Kosovo-born, Sarajevo-based actor Alban Ukaj, who broke out internationally last year with a role in Blerta Zeqiri’s Tallinn Black Nights title Marriage.
After festival director Miro Purivatra...
- 8/11/2018
- by Vladan Petkovic
- ScreenDaily
Alen Drljevic’s film received the award for best Balkan film.
Kosovo’s Prishtina International Film Festival (PriFest) celebrated its 10th edition last week (July 17-22), with Men Don’t Cry, the feature debut of Bosnian director Alen Drljevic’s receiving the award for best Balkan film.
The drama about the bloody conflict in the former Yugoslavia takes place in an empty Serbian hotel. It premiered at Karlovy Vary last year, and has subsequently screened at festivals including Sarajevo, Hamburg and Chicago.
It screened in Prishtina in the ‘Honey and Blood’ programme of Balkan films. The ‘Honey and Blood’ jury...
Kosovo’s Prishtina International Film Festival (PriFest) celebrated its 10th edition last week (July 17-22), with Men Don’t Cry, the feature debut of Bosnian director Alen Drljevic’s receiving the award for best Balkan film.
The drama about the bloody conflict in the former Yugoslavia takes place in an empty Serbian hotel. It premiered at Karlovy Vary last year, and has subsequently screened at festivals including Sarajevo, Hamburg and Chicago.
It screened in Prishtina in the ‘Honey and Blood’ programme of Balkan films. The ‘Honey and Blood’ jury...
- 7/25/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Chicago – Silence speaks volumes in the cinema of Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Their characters are often young people living on society’s fringes, who keep their thoughts internalized rather than discuss them out loud. There is no music, no narration, and none of the usual cinematic conventions employed to tell the audience what to think or how to feel.
“Lorna’s Silence” is the Dardenne Brothers’ fourth consecutive feature to be honored at the Cannes Film Festival. They are the only Belgian filmmakers that have won the Palme d’Or, which they claimed for both “Rosetta” (1999) and “L’enfant” (2005). Growing up in Belgium’s postindustrial French-speaking region, the Dardennes made a great number of documentaries before venturing into narrative film. The influence of their upbringing and the observant tone of their nonfiction work are apparent in every film they’ve made.
DVD Rating: 4.0/5.0
Like many Dardenne protagonists, Lorna...
“Lorna’s Silence” is the Dardenne Brothers’ fourth consecutive feature to be honored at the Cannes Film Festival. They are the only Belgian filmmakers that have won the Palme d’Or, which they claimed for both “Rosetta” (1999) and “L’enfant” (2005). Growing up in Belgium’s postindustrial French-speaking region, the Dardennes made a great number of documentaries before venturing into narrative film. The influence of their upbringing and the observant tone of their nonfiction work are apparent in every film they’ve made.
DVD Rating: 4.0/5.0
Like many Dardenne protagonists, Lorna...
- 1/13/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
See pics from the film directed and written by Directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. In the cast are Arta Dobroshi, Jérémie Renier, Fabrizio Rongione, Alban Ukaj and Morgan Marinne. This is the winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival as well as an Official Selection 2008 Toronto International Cannes Film Festival. Dobroshi takes the title character role as a young Albanian woman residing in Belgium. Her aim is to start a snack bar with Sokol (played by Alban Ukaj), her boyfriend. As a means to an end, she finds herself playing an accomplice to Favio (Fabrizio Rongione), a mobster with a diabolical plan...
- 9/11/2008
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Le Silence de Lorna, Cannes, In Competition
While the Belgian-born Dardenne brothers are genetically incapable of making an uninteresting film, it must be admitted that "Le Silence de Lorna" -- though always eminently watchable -- is not up to the standards of their devastating 2005 Golden Palm winner, "The Child", or previous miracles like "The Son", "Rosetta" (winner of the Golden Palm in 1999), and "The Promise".
Thus, while their diminutive but devoted international fan base can be counted on to turn out for this new film as well, its success in most territories is going to be even more modest than usual. Ancillary possibilities, especially on DVD and Euro television, look more promising.
All the while maintaining their signature hand-held, quick-cut, slice-of-life aesthetic, the Dardenne brothers have ventured into new territory here. This time they focus their all-seeing camera on a young Albanian woman, Lorna, who has married a Belgian drug addict to obtain Belgian citizenship.
On the one hand, it's good to see the Dardennes trying something new, something beyond their normal cast of working-class Belgian feckless ne'er-do-wells. On the other hand, it feels like they don't really know this new territory very well -- neither in terms of the novel characters they're using, or the physical move to Liege from Seraing, the industrial town in which all their previous films have been set -- giving "Le Silence de Lorna" a highly derivative feel. Throw an Italian mobster and a Russian mafioso into the mix, and the resulting stew feels very foreign indeed.
As always in their films, the principal focus is on a moral dilemma faced by the chief protagonist. In this case, Lorna's gangster co-conspirator Fabio wants to kill off the drug addict, Claudy (played with intensity by Jeremie Renier, who debuted with the Dardennes at age 14 in "The Promise"), with an overdose of heroin. The more scrupulous, less ruthless Lorna wants get rid of Claudy by following the riskier course of faking grounds for divorce instead.
To this end, she bangs her arms against the door in one scene and smashes her forehead against the wall in another, all in order to provide evidence that the pathetic Claudy is abusing her. At the same time, and contradictorily, she is also trying to save him from his drug habit and in the process becomes emotionally attached to him.
The moral dilemmas in these films also always stem from untenable positions that the socially-disadvantaged characters find themselves in. In this regard, Lorna is only a slightly less vivid example of a sad lineup that the Dardennes have consistently offered up in an ongoing, powerful critique of the unjust world that some human beings continue to construct at the expense of others.
Cast: Arta Dobroshi, Jeremie Renier, Fabrizio Rongione, Alban Ukaj. Directors: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Screenwriters: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Producers: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Director of photography: Alain Marcoen. Production designer: Igor Gabriel. Costume designer: Monique Parelle. Editor: Marie-Helene Dozo
Production Companies: Les Films du Fleuve, Archipel 35
Sales: Celluloid Dreams
No MPAA rating, 105 minutes...
While the Belgian-born Dardenne brothers are genetically incapable of making an uninteresting film, it must be admitted that "Le Silence de Lorna" -- though always eminently watchable -- is not up to the standards of their devastating 2005 Golden Palm winner, "The Child", or previous miracles like "The Son", "Rosetta" (winner of the Golden Palm in 1999), and "The Promise".
Thus, while their diminutive but devoted international fan base can be counted on to turn out for this new film as well, its success in most territories is going to be even more modest than usual. Ancillary possibilities, especially on DVD and Euro television, look more promising.
All the while maintaining their signature hand-held, quick-cut, slice-of-life aesthetic, the Dardenne brothers have ventured into new territory here. This time they focus their all-seeing camera on a young Albanian woman, Lorna, who has married a Belgian drug addict to obtain Belgian citizenship.
On the one hand, it's good to see the Dardennes trying something new, something beyond their normal cast of working-class Belgian feckless ne'er-do-wells. On the other hand, it feels like they don't really know this new territory very well -- neither in terms of the novel characters they're using, or the physical move to Liege from Seraing, the industrial town in which all their previous films have been set -- giving "Le Silence de Lorna" a highly derivative feel. Throw an Italian mobster and a Russian mafioso into the mix, and the resulting stew feels very foreign indeed.
As always in their films, the principal focus is on a moral dilemma faced by the chief protagonist. In this case, Lorna's gangster co-conspirator Fabio wants to kill off the drug addict, Claudy (played with intensity by Jeremie Renier, who debuted with the Dardennes at age 14 in "The Promise"), with an overdose of heroin. The more scrupulous, less ruthless Lorna wants get rid of Claudy by following the riskier course of faking grounds for divorce instead.
To this end, she bangs her arms against the door in one scene and smashes her forehead against the wall in another, all in order to provide evidence that the pathetic Claudy is abusing her. At the same time, and contradictorily, she is also trying to save him from his drug habit and in the process becomes emotionally attached to him.
The moral dilemmas in these films also always stem from untenable positions that the socially-disadvantaged characters find themselves in. In this regard, Lorna is only a slightly less vivid example of a sad lineup that the Dardennes have consistently offered up in an ongoing, powerful critique of the unjust world that some human beings continue to construct at the expense of others.
Cast: Arta Dobroshi, Jeremie Renier, Fabrizio Rongione, Alban Ukaj. Directors: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Screenwriters: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Producers: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Director of photography: Alain Marcoen. Production designer: Igor Gabriel. Costume designer: Monique Parelle. Editor: Marie-Helene Dozo
Production Companies: Les Films du Fleuve, Archipel 35
Sales: Celluloid Dreams
No MPAA rating, 105 minutes...
- 5/19/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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