Directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (Deux
jours, une nuit) B
Belgium France Italy (95 mi) 2014 d: Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Belgium France Italy (95 mi) 2014 d: Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
An excoriating critique of capitalism, brilliantly revealing
how it isolates and divides workers, pitting one against the other, where over the
course of the film the Dardennes turn this into a modern era horror story. What’s most striking, however, is how it’s
framed in such ordinary circumstances, where the fear of losing one’s job is
the overriding concern, capable of driving one to do the unthinkable. While the opportunity to work with an actress
of the stature of Marion Cotillard may have proven too alluring to resist, the
film would probably have played much better with a lesser known, unknown
actress, much like their earlier efforts, especially ROSETTA (1999), where the
actress’s daily struggle might mirror the role of the character in the
film. Part of Cotillard’s role as
Sandra, a young Belgian mother working at a small solar panel factory, is her
invisibility, where she is forced to come out of the anonymity of her character
to make herself seen as she confronts each and every one of her fellow
workers. When trying to return from a
medical leave, she discovers the company has instead decided to lay her off in
order to pay the annual 1000 euro bonus to the rest of the workers. When cornered in a parking lot, the owner
agrees to hold a vote by secret ballot to alleviate allegations of pressure and
intimidation by the foreman, and if a majority of workers agree to vote for her
return instead of their bonuses, then he will honor their decision. He is of the opinion, however, based on an
initial vote tallied by the foreman, that most everyone prefers the bonus. This leaves her little time, as indicated by
the title, to change people’s minds.
While a worker on leave could be confronted by any number of illnesses,
such as losing a child, recovery from an injury or an accident, to having a
more serious medical diagnosis such a cancer, but in Sandra’s case she suffers
from depression (another invisible disease), seen taking large doses of Xanax,
well beyond the recommended limit, in an attempt to maintain her sanity
throughout this ordeal. The idea for the
film is based upon real incidents occurring in French factories, but also
Belgium, Italy, and the United States, where a worker was laid off so the rest
of the workers could get their bonuses, all of which raise questions of
solidarity in the workforce.
Shot in Seraing, an industrial town in Liège, in Wallonia, the French-speaking section of
Belgium where the Dardennes were born and raised, and where all their previous
films were shot as well, Cotillard had to change her French accent to Belgian
for the film—no minor undertaking, as she’s the first non-Belgian actor to ever
work with the directors. By all
accounts, many believe she was robbed at Cannes by not winning Best Actress,
but this is an understated, minimalist, low-key film without any major dramatic
moments. Experts in social realist
films, this is most reminiscent of a Bresson film (Introduction
to Bresson), a meticulous film constructionist who downplayed the
performances of his actors, where this film is based upon a repeating, cyclical
theme where Sandra literally goes door to door tracking down her coworkers,
asking them to vote to save her position by sacrificing their bonuses. While this is incredibly humiliating, to say
the least, it leaves her emotionally exhausted and demoralized afterwards when
she realizes what an uphill struggle this is turning out to be. Shot in chronological order, most of the
scenes are long takes culminating with stressful discussions at someone’s front
door, usually interrupting them from their weekend activities with their
children, where the situation couldn’t be more awkward, as in an economic
downturn, everyone needs the money, with some in desperate straits. While it’s hard to believe someone is placed
in this position, literally begging for their job back, the Dardennes don’t
over-dramatize or turn this into a melodrama, confining their focus to exposing
what each of these people must be going through, literally providing a window
into their souls, as for each, this is a gut-wrenching decision. People are surprisingly honest with one
another, as is Sandra, who is never pushy or argumentative, but simply presents
the reality of the situation, then must gracefully accept the fact that not
everyone is going to support her, even some who sympathize with her. In some cases, the husbands aggressively bark
out their opinions while their wives (who work with her) meekly stand in
silence, unable to alter the balance of power in their homes.
Beautifully portraying the accumulative stress and mental
anguish, Cotillard anchors the film with her warmth and sense of decency, where
the urgency of her situation mirrors how other people live and the pressures
they face, where in troubled times it’s extremely hard to support her
efforts. Nonetheless it’s a heroic act
to summon the courage to embark on such a personally revealing journey, where
you literally strip yourself naked standing completely vulnerable before your
coworkers, always struggling to overcome feelings of hopelessness and
despair. Perhaps the weakest character
in the film is Sandra’s own husband Manu, Fabrizio Rangione in his fifth film
with this directing team, whose pathetic struggle to continually push his wife
feels overly abusive, though perhaps necessary when she’s incessantly on the
verge of giving up. We don’t see an
emotional connection between the two, or any hint of happiness, but their
interaction together represents a tired couple that is used to struggling to
get through every day. Perhaps the most
beautiful scenes involve music, including Petula Clark singing the French
version of the 1963 Jackie DeShannon song “Needles and Pins” Petula Clark - La Nuit N'en
Finit Plus - YouTube, while the scene of the film is the euphoric emotional
release expressed to the song of Van Morrison and Them singing a teen anthem
from the 60’s, “Gloria” THEM
(Featuring VAN MORRISON) - LIVE 1965 - "Gloria" YouTube
(2:47). While Sandra is literally
terrified at what will happen behind the knock at each door, it’s a petrifying
journey set by her boss against her colleagues, where no one protests against
the inherent cruelty of the employer’s actions, instead it’s a barbaric act
commonly accepted in the modern workplace.
Sandra has a husband and child, perceived as a woman’s dutiful role in the
50’s, but in today’s world she needs a place in society where she can be of
use. Work has come to represent a sense
of purpose in people’s lives, even in the routine work of factory jobs, without
which many people feel lost and useless, expressed in the film as confronting
one’s worst fear, “living on the dole.”
Despite the anger and outright hostility that arises, where the foreman
(Dardennes regular Olivier Gourmet) blames her for “stirring up this shit,”
this is an unconventional exposé of the meaning of work in people’s lives,
where to some their fellow coworkers are an indispensable part of their lives,
like one of the family, where they spend eight to ten hours a day alongside
each other, while others routinely ignore the social dimension of working with
others for a period of years. In this
film, the Dardennes allow the characters to determine the outcome by
challenging their humanity, which has greater significance than some predetermined
moral lesson that would quickly be forgotten.
