Reviews
in“: nILLs HAVE eves (18) 107mm 000
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(it li.'ll I‘r lit llillt ll". EVIL ALIENS (18) 93min 0.
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'.':‘?attle couple tiea’: across France arid Spain *5: Africa. bj, train, fcot. lorry, bus and fee. l," 'Inute ’_"e. encounter ‘rrlr'"urar‘t:; hearing; an the cpposrte rrrrectrrw In search of '.'rr;)rk.
Gatlrt doesn't ()FO‘.‘r(l(3 us WlIll too many concrete details about hrs central characters: he was a talented xwrolrnrst orphaned alter a car acerdent. she comes from a much poorer background. and there's a lleetrng reference to them actrng rn porn frlrns. Tne emphasrs rs less on language than l)il‘,f;l(2£ll sensuality. and rt's ll‘thSrC,‘ that powers their shared Journey ot drscoveh - whether it‘s the blarrng techno playrng on Zano's headphones. the flamenco the; encounter rn Andalusra or the tribal rhythms at a Sufi ceremony rn Algiers. It the issue of ‘\.".'omen's' rights undm lslarn rs slrghtl; euaded by Gatlrt. thrs urbrantly acted trlrn has some strrkrngl, delrrrous sequences and an exhilarating clrmax. chm Dawson:
I F‘,’,’7’/l()ui$t). Etnntxx'J/r from P" 3- PM. :7 fa'.
[‘JHAMA (ZQMLDY THE WEATHER MAN (15) 101 min .00
Director Gere VCI'Drl‘rSle helmrng of the Prrates cf the Cambean ilii'lClllStfi has {illO‘\‘.'(E( hrm carte blanche to make any frlm he wants rn hrs LlOVHlIllllt}. and although this Nicolas Cage uehrcie prox ed an almrgnty flop rn the US. as actually a well obserned and parnfullg, mordant medrtatron On the farrure of the American Dream. D'd‘.’ld Spr‘rtz rCager rs a tcrealthy
INTERVIEW
SIBLING MELANCHOLIA
Tom Dawson meets the hottest duo in European cinema at the moment
- the DARDENNE BROTHERS.
Francois Truffaut once said that it was easier to cope with failure than success as a director. If he was right, the Dardenne brothers could be facing difficult times ahead. At last spring’s Cannes festival the Belgian filmmaking duo were awarded the Palme D’Or for L’Enfanf (The Child), seven years after Rosetta had won them the same coveted prize. But Luc (pictured, left), the younger of the fiftysomething siblings, insists that, ‘we will carry on sticking to our principles and doing what we want to do when we want to do it. We’ll keep our feet on the ground to tell our stories.’
Over their last four films, which also include La Promesse and Le Fils (The Son), the Dardennes have perfected their own version of cinematic ‘realism’: no musical score, minimal dialogue, the use of hand-held cameras which closely follow their characters around the drab streets of the industrial town of Seraing, and an absence of psychological explanations for peoples’ actions. These are political films in the widest sense of the word, which focus on youngsters marginalised by society, but amidst the suffering, poverty and injustice there are also metaphysical moments of Bressonian grace.
Jean-Pierre explains that the starting point for L’Enfant came when they were shooting their previous work Le Fils, and noticed a teenage girl violently pushing a pram. ‘When we started writing the next film, we realised that she was still in our minds and conversations a year later - she kept creeping back. Our first thought was that she was searching for a father for the child, because we wanted to do a story about a couple and a love story. But then we thought perhaps she isn’t looking for a father. Maybe he’s not there and doesn’t see the child.’
Initially the male protagonist of L'Enfant, Bruno (played by Jeremie Renier) is a petty thief. How, I ask the brothers, do they manage to make us care so much about their anti-hero? ‘Because we love Bruno and we never put ourselves in the position of judging him,’ replies Luc. ‘Through the long takes, we spend time with him in the film, and we leave him with lots of areas of shadow. We don’t caricature him, we give him a human depth.’ ‘And we feel close to Bruno because at the beginning he’s completely alone,’ adds Jean-Pierre. He discovers his feelings for Sonia and the child, but it takes a long time to get there. It looks like he has to learn everything on his own.’
I L'Enfant (The Chi/d) rs showrng at Fr/mhouse. Edrnburgh from Fr/ 70 Mar and GFT. Glasgow from Frr 24 Mar. See revrew, page 44.
naCuous weatherman ranking at a Chrcago teleursron statrcn. beset mth allXi(:T|(,‘S about hrs ‘thrltlriétr. Daughter Shell, IGerrrmenne de .a Pena :55 art obese teen .-.lth can‘rel-toe Issues and a nrcotrne ’,.’£l‘.l')t_}, .‘.hr.e so“ Mrke 'Nrc'nolas Hort! rs a .'.a.er.'rg : r1.:){):e at risk from a fibllllSGilbr .‘.rth paedotghrie rnchnatrcr‘s H.s ex-.-.'rfe Noreerr rHope Dams rs estranged and on the point of marmng again. and hrs Pulitzer Prrze— .‘rrnnlng father Robert rlvlrchael Camel rs term.na.l‘, ill, And while Sprrtz's lrfe oasmtegrates around him. rle's para more to .2ch less {it‘d less. makrng him a target of hate for oassmg strangers.
SC'een'.'rrrter Steve l'./res.“rng Eames
Herrr/ngl‘rz’iy Conrad and Verbrnskr rnerload the narrative as they pitch for Alexander Sideways Pa/ne-st/le pathos. but the uniforml/ strong performances help make The Weather Man a darkly hum0r0us paean to the taller: media idol. (Eddre Harrrsom
I Gerrera/ release from PH 3 Feb.
2-l6 Mar 2906 THE LIST 41