Two Days, One Night (2014) (Deux jours, une duit)
Cast includes: Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), Fabrizio Rongione (The Kid with a Bike), Catherine Salée (Blue Is the Warmest Color)
Writer/Director: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (L’enfant, Rosetta)
Genre: Drama (95 minutes) French with subtitles
The phone wakes Sandra from a sound sleep, but she says she just dozed off. Good thing because she has a tart in the oven for the kids. “Tell me why,” says Sandra. “No Juliette. No.” It’s an upsetting call, and Sandra falls back on her standard coping method… pills. When her husband Manu gets home, he wants to know why Sandra doesn’t want to appeal. She should talk to Mr. Dumont about keeping her job. “They want their bonuses,” says Sandra. As it turns out, Sandra’s coworkers at Solwal were given a choice of whether to keep Sandra or keep their bonuses. Juliette thinks Dumont hasn’t completely made up his mind and would be willing to discuss it. The plant foreman Jean-Marc apparently tried to scare the others into voting for Sandra’s layoff. When Dumont learns this, he agrees to hold another vote without Jean-Marc on Monday.
If anyone is going to change their vote, Sandra needs to convince them before Monday. But she’s reluctant to pressure the others. She knows giving up a €1,000 bonus is a hardship for most. On the other hand, Sandra has worked so hard to get back on her feet again. Losing this job will put her right back where she was… on the dole and spiraling into deep depression. Even her kids live with the fear of their mother getting “sick again.” She now needs to see 16 coworkers over the weekend and get at least 9 of them to vote to keep her. It seems like an impossible task. And frankly, Sandra just isn’t a strong person. She thought she had gotten past being depressed, but this setback is proof that she’s still on the edge. But reluctantly, she begins.
Along the way, she learns that Jean-Marc has found out about the new vote, and he’s stepped up his campaign against her. He seems to think she isn’t as good a worker as she used to be. But that’s so unfair… as we learn. Marion Cotillard has been getting critical acclaim for her portrayal of Sandra. It’s not a role or a film with a lot of drama. It’s in the French naturalism style, and many scenes look almost like a documentary. There’s virtually no soundtrack to heighten the tension and most of the emotion hinges on Cotillard’s performance. Films like these aren’t popular crowd-pleasers in the US market, but for those who enjoy French naturalism, Two Days, One Night has much to offer. The Belgium Dardenne brothers, who wrote and directed the film, tend to focus on films about social issues, and this one has a lot to say. While the world is no longer on the brink of economic disaster, things still aren’t good. Jobs aren’t easy to find or keep. When squeezed, self-preservation instincts can kick in. Sometimes it seems necessary to cull the weakest ones from the herd for the good of the rest. Sometimes a boss can use this instinct to force employees into do the dirty work. If Sandra can’t muster the strength to challenge her layoff, maybe she deserves to be culled from the herd. “I feel like a beggar… a thief,” she tells Manu. As long as Sandra sees herself as weak, most of the others will too.
3 popped kernels
A woman fights to keep her job after coworkers have chosen to let her go
Popcorn Profile
Rated: PG-13
Audience: Grown-ups
Gender Style: Sensitive
Distribution: Art House
Mood: Sober
Tempo: In No Hurry
Visual Style: Unvarnished Realism
Nutshell: Losing a job
Language: True to life
Social Significance: Thought Provoking
