Dardenne Brothers : Name Your Reasons Why They Aren't So Bad & Hated.

just watched La Fille Inconnue, it was unexpectedly Hitchcockian tbh

The Unknown Girl their weakest to date.

It definitely felt somewhat formulaic and white savior-ish (except she didn't save anyone -- well, except...).

I think Rosetta might be worse.

Disagree heartily, I really loved Unknown Girl

I did think Adèle Haenel's performance was strong and unshowy.

"unexpected Hitchcockian" + unbeloved by Dardennes stans = I'll probably see it

j/k I get the feeling I've been wrong about the Dardennes this whole time

well, that's a fact. xo

i think the "white saviour" angle is tempered by the ways that the main character is led to reassess her self-image

i thought it was good on the kind of missionary mentality that you find in some middle class professionals

It's kinda the first film they've made about a middle class character? I liked that wringle. I doubt it's worse than those films they made before The Pledge which everyone says are absolutely awful, but yeah, it was a bit disappointing. I don't know if it's 'white saviour', but it's disappointing that the immigrant girl is basically only there to die so that the white character can realize stuff about herself. It is kinda the same plot as in The Pledge, but that film made a point out of really delving into the immigrant experience, which this one doesn't.

LOL'ing at where I was at with these two back when I started this thread, as I'm now musing that one of the things that's soured me on film culture of late is when everyone turned on these guys

I loved two days one night. It's like a masterclass in acting. The scene where she speaks to Timur on the football field was astonishing. I mean WOW.

― Acting Crazy (Instrumental) (jed_), Thursday, 30 April 2015 05:45 (eight years ago) bookmarkflaglink

I don't know film culture, but jed otm. I should try and see more of their work. My hilarious gag is that the above mentioned film would make a great double bill with Cristian Mungiu's four months three weeks and two days.

Tori and Lokita on Criterion Channel.