Keswick Film Festival

Synopsis

What makes a good film to start the season off? How about one from two of our favourite directors, with a star performance by a great actor, a plot to make us all stop and think and, obviously,it has to be in French?

We have had most of the films by the Dardenne brothers here - most recently 'The Kid with a Bike' in 2012. They share their social-realist drama milieu with the likes of Ken Loach, with whom they are often favourably compared.

The star here is Marion Cotillard, who won the Oscar for 'La Vie en Rose' and was most recently in Keswick in 'Rust and Bone'. Her performance here gets high praise from all the reviews we can find.

The story is the modern one of down-trodden workers. Sandra has just recovered from a nervous breakdown. When she tries to go back to work, she is told that her fellow workers have agreed to a one-off bonus to do the work Sandra was doing. She is given the weekend (two days, one night) to convince them to change their vote and let her have her job back...

'The genius of this film (to this writer, the brothers' best) is the way that it constantly undercuts preconceptions. Just when you feel that didacticism is creeping in, that a side is being taken or a point is being pushed, there's a twist and we're right back to neutral. It's difficult to articulate what it is that's so great about the Dardennes' cinema, but it perhaps has something to do with being in the thrilling company of filmmakers who fully comprehend the intricacies of their own text — a skill which is very much taken for granted. Their vigilance as filmmakers is awe-inspiring. This movie is a miracle.' - David Jenkins, Little White Lies