Title: Deux Jours, Une Nuit (Two Days, One Night)
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione, Catherine Salee
Runtime: 1 hr 35 minutes
What It Is: When Sandra (Cotillard) goes out with depression and is forced out of work for an extended period the office manager at her Solar Panel facility job puts it to a vote as to whether they would like to keep Sandra or receive they’re well earned bonus. They’re not given the choice of either, and now Sandra has the titular amount of time to convince her colleagues to forego her bonus in order for her to maintain her employment. Her future hangs in the balance but little inklings of depression are coming up to stop her from pursuing her goal.
What We Think: Marion Cotillard absolutely delivers in this performance. You really get what Sandra is going through, the demons she’s fighting and has fought. As the venture begins to wear her down she continues despite it being almost torturous. As she goes from location to location she is greeted with a variety of different responses. From violence to sheer sadness. All these emotions are wonderfully framed by the brother directors camera. The dialogue is quite wonderful and it furthers the theme of the agony felt by Sandra and projected by Cotillard.
Our Grade: A-This is one film that needs to be seen. There is a humility about the film an honest approach that just doesn’t get lost under the luster of Marion Cotillard’s stardom. In fact it is her understated nuance that make this film have that feeling of worry and need. Please go see this at your local arthouse, or VOD which I believe it is on as well.