- Title: Cannes favourites the Dardenne brothers to stick to social themes in films
- Date: 20th May 2016
- Summary: CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 20, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) DIRECTOR, LUC DARDENNE, SAYING: "From our point of view we can't say that we made a film that anted to be a metaphor. We're interested in individuals, in details, in ordinary things to, hopefully, make something extraordinary of them, at least to widen the scope. But we're really staying with this suburban doctor who refuses to become richer by changing practice because she wants to stay where she is to find out the identity of this unknown girl. That's what we're interested in, the moral responsibility that Jenny feels." CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 18, 2016) (REUTERS) LUC AND JEAN-PIERRE DARDENNE GETTING OUT OF CAR, POSING FOR PHOTOS ACTRESS ADELE HAENEL SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS / ACTOR JEREMIE RENIER SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS RENIER SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS CANNES, FRANCE (MAY 20, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) ACTRESS, ADELE HAENEL, SAYING: "It's not just your life that you miss, it's your own life, I mean. If you live without it, without this revelation that you can't do without the others, and that others are important and that you must give them space near you, there is some rotten air in your head."
- Embargoed: 4th June 2016 16:11
- Keywords: Cannes Dardenne brothers The Unknown Girl
- Location: CANNES, FRANCE / VARIOUS UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS
- City: CANNES, FRANCE / VARIOUS UNKNOWN FILMING LOCATIONS
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA0044IM4C3X
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: "The Unknown Girl", which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this week, is a trademark, social film by the Dardenne brothers, and there is little chance that the Belgian directors will one day change their style.
In the Dardenne brothers' 10th feature film, Dr Jenny Davin tries to identify a teenage girl who was killed just outside her practice.
She starts out feeling driven by guilt and an intense sense of responsibility, having ignored the doorbell that night because it rang an hour after she had closed the office. As she investigates the case, it becomes clear that others are becoming interested in finding out the truth.
The Dardennes, Jean-Pierre and Luc, have already won the Palme d'Or in Cannes twice playing the social cord, in 1999 with "Rosetta", the story of a teenager who lives in a trailer park with her alcoholic lover, and in 2005 with "Two Days, One Night", following a young mother who fights for her job in a solar-panel factory.
In 2011, "The Kid with a Bike" also won the Jury Prize in Cannes.
While their Northern France neighbour Bruno Dumont, who also started by focusing on social issues, turned to comedy with "Ma Loute" in Cannes, the Dardennes won't flinch.
"He's a creator who goes from a genre to another, at some point he went elsewhere. It's not our case," Luc told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
"We're the kind of directors who dig, we're like in a coal mine, said Jean-Pierre. "We don't have the feeling that we are reaching the end (of this genre)," Luc added.
The Dardennes usually focus on a central character and after Emilie Dequesne played Rosetta and Marion Cotillard played Sandra in "Two Days One Night", double Cesar winner Adele Haenel, 27, was an impressive Jenny in "The Unknown Girl".
"We're interested in individuals, in details, in ordinary things to, hopefully, make something extraordinary of them, at least to widen the scope," said Luc Dardenne.
"But we're really staying with this suburban doctor who refuses to become richer by changing practice because she wants to stay where she is to find out the identity of this unknown girl. That's what we're interested in, the moral responsibility that Jenny feels."
"It's not the kind of role what I used to play. I usually play angry characters, there's often a lot of yelling," Haenel told Reuters.
Just like Jenny understands she should have let the unknown girl in, Haenel believes there is a lesson to be learnt.
"It's not just your life that you miss, it's your own life," she said.
"If you live without it, without this revelation that you can't do without the others, and that others are important and that you must give them space near you, there is some rotten air in your head." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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