Sandra, a young Belgian mother, discovers that her workmates have opted
for a significant pay bonus, in exchange for her dismissal. She has only
one weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses so that
she can keep her job.
Directors:
Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc DardenneWriters:
Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc DardenneStars:
Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione, Catherine Salée |Storyline
Sandra Bya, married with two children, has been off work from her job at Solwal on medical leave for depression. During her absence from work, her boss, M. Dumont, on the suggestion of her immediate supervisor, the shop foreman Jean-Marc, figures that her section of the company can function with sixteen people working full time with a bit of overtime instead of seventeen with no overtime, that seventeenth person being Sandra. Because of the global competition the company faces, Dumont decides the company can only finance the annual bonuses for those sixteen employees, which are EUR1,000 per person, or Sandra's job, leaving the decision to those sixteen. On a Friday near the end of her medical leave, Sandra learns of this situation from her friend and co-worker Juliette after the "show of hands" vote is held, the result a 13-3 decision for the bonuses over Sandra's job. Because Juliette knows Jean-Marc, who is determined to get rid of Sandra, influenced the vote by scare mongeringUser Reviews
It's as low key and
quiet as a film can get. It's not enhanced for comedy, action, or drama.
Just a realistic human story of the basic struggle to make ends meet in
this world.
It's the type of movie that separates the movie geeks from the film geeks.
As a film geek, I can appreciate how the filmmakers did so much with so little, especially actress,Marion Cotillard.
The movie counts on her being realistic, all the way down to the weight it looks like she lost in order to play a woman who just got over an illness, and in order to get her job back spends a weekend visiting her coworkers in order to convenience them to vote for her to get her job back in a secret ballet on Monday, over a big bonus they would all get if she stays laid-off. She had to be believable as a proud woman who did not want to ask her coworkers of this, she did not want their pity, but she needed to support her family, a situation all of her coworkers are also in. It's a truly unbalanced and unfair situation for everyone and Marion did an excellent job portraying how uncomfortable that is.
As a movie geek, though the movie was watered down with absolutely no sugar, I'm glad it was not boring. It helps that the subject is something almost everyone who has a job in this economy can relate to, no matter which side of the equation you're on.
Definitely the type of picture we'll all be discussing long after the film is over. '
It's the type of movie that separates the movie geeks from the film geeks.
As a film geek, I can appreciate how the filmmakers did so much with so little, especially actress,Marion Cotillard.
The movie counts on her being realistic, all the way down to the weight it looks like she lost in order to play a woman who just got over an illness, and in order to get her job back spends a weekend visiting her coworkers in order to convenience them to vote for her to get her job back in a secret ballet on Monday, over a big bonus they would all get if she stays laid-off. She had to be believable as a proud woman who did not want to ask her coworkers of this, she did not want their pity, but she needed to support her family, a situation all of her coworkers are also in. It's a truly unbalanced and unfair situation for everyone and Marion did an excellent job portraying how uncomfortable that is.
As a movie geek, though the movie was watered down with absolutely no sugar, I'm glad it was not boring. It helps that the subject is something almost everyone who has a job in this economy can relate to, no matter which side of the equation you're on.
Definitely the type of picture we'll all be discussing long after the film is over. '
No comments:
Post a Comment