Undescribable Perfection

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Don't Believe the Hype

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

All Dardenne brothers' movies have a central character but all these characters don't necessarily have a character's arc. As my immersion into the sibling's unique but strangely flawless body of work progresses, I find these two storytelling devices equally fascinating, in the way they convey the real 'flavor' of life, living a day without knowing what the next one will be... a grimmer look on Forrest Gump's iconic 'box of chocolates' metaphot. In movies like "The Promise" (their 1996 breakthrough), a young teenager is confronted to a moral dilemma after the tragic death of an illegal immigrant and chooses to help his widow and son instead of pursuing the same criminal path than his father, in "Two Days, One Night"; that earned Marion Cotillard an Oscar-nomination, the actress played a depressed factory worker confronting each workmate during a weekend to ask them to renounce an 1000 euros bonus to avoid her dismissal. These two movies consisted of long harrowing journeys where their protagonists managed to transcend their initial conditions, proving that even in a crisis-stricken society, there's still a glimmer of hope and reasons to have faith in humanity. Other Dardennes' movies didn't share the same optimism, and both happen to be their Golden Palm winners. "Rosetta" featured a young girl determined to work and not to end like her depraved alcoholic mother that she would do anything to get a job, even the most unethical actions. But when she could work, she seemed to have lost the ability to be happy, as if she had already entrapped herself in an existential dead-end. In "The Child", we find Jeremy Renier, the kid in "The Promise", in his early twenties, as Bruno, the father of the titular child, along with Sonia (Deborah François) a girl in her late teens. Despite the title, the film is pretty much centered on the 'father', but the word father is to be kept between crosses. I was misled by the synopsis and the premise that 'Bruno would learn to become a father'... there is no journey in "The Child" despite some bits of remorse expressed by Bruno. Still, the only identifiable pattern in his behavior is that he never thinks of the consequences and is so eager to make quick cash through begging or petty crimes that he never questions his ethics. Some people don't have scruples, some have, some don't even think about it. Are they dangerous? Potentially, yes. But they're a danger for themselves first because once you stop thinking of the consequences, your life can't have any purpose anymore. The irony is that Sonia, who's as immature and childish as Bruno, does have one and it happens to be her son. Although it's implied it was an accidental pregnancy, the couple is genuinely in love and love is actually an understatement, in two consecutive scenes, the Dardennes exposed the love on-going between the couple in a way that both captures their innocence and foreshadows the upcoming incident. Indeed, this is intelligent filmmaking at best because it features the two sides of the coin, how innocence can be cute and corny only to raise an uglier and far more tragic head later. First, you see them playfully but recklessly teasing each other in the car and it's a miracle it doesn't end with an accident. Later, they play with food and end up embracing each other as if they were at the verge of making love once again without any care for their child... it's like we viewers are asked by the Dardennes to care for the kid because the parents obviously can't. But it's Bruno who crosses the line by doing the one thing not even the most experienced moviegoer could see coming: selling the child. With an eerie attention to details and in their trademark documentary style, the Dardennes shoot the scene like a drug deal where a baby replaced the loot. But once again with the Dardennes, a scene never plays on its own, it's often a set-up to a more powerful moment. The pay-off comes when Bruno triumphantly shows a big bundle of euros to Sonia, announcing in the most matter-of-factly way that they sold their child. Sonia's reaction takes her back to a norm so severely lacking in the previous scenes, she faints and need immediate hospitalization. It's a dramatic moment but at least we know she is normal, and the fact that Bruno doesn't realize the gravity of his action that establishes his true character, one who has an uncommon lack of comprehension of the world, so wrapped up in immediacy that his soul lost itself in the process. I compared the film with "Rosetta" but even she had a defining goal, she needed a job and that encompassed all her actions. Bruno spends the whole film needing money, and even when he manages to get the child back, he seems to be sliding in the same path, endangering the life of another child. For all his flaws, we're never put in a position to despise Bruno, we pity him but in the same way, we fail to admire him when he seems regretful or when he makes amends... the Dardennes never allow certitudes, as if we were allowed to trust our perceptions. At the end, when Bruno finally weeps, we might take it as redemption, but it can be despair. Who knows? And "who knows?" is the question, "The Child" feels like a character study but there's an intellectual undertone behind that term, indicating a form of arc, an evolution, a coming-of-age. The Dardennes brothers could make such a film but I applaud the way they kept a shadow of doubt about the future of Bruno, by focusing so much on his actions that we're so close yet so far from his conscience, like Bruno who by getting so close to money let it get the worse from him...

What a jerk! This is what I felt about Bruno, a small-time crook, when the movie started. Then slowly the story develops in such a way that he goes deeper and deeper into trouble. About halfway through the movie he doesn't, for a fraction of second, seem to regret about the things he commits.Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne's L'Infant silently speaks the vagaries of two lovers who belong to the marginalized section of the society that Hollywood does not speak of or for that Bollywood is so trying to forget.I never did see the helplessness of a victim or an underdog in him but his character grew and you would thoughtlessly empathise with Bruno. By the end, I rooted for him and somehow wished everything was undone.First thing he did was pretend to take his newborn for a walk in his pram and make up a plan to sell it off to some crooks. That plan went awry. Then Sonia (his girlfriend and the mother) gave him up to police. Then another plan with a juvenile friend to snatch bag from an old woman ended up with his friend being caught.Watching the movie was dizzily overwhelming and yet judging the characters in the story was like a foreign thing to me. Sonia played by Deborah Francois could look like Jennifer Lawrence if the latter acts better like the former. Jeremie Renier gets under the skin of Bruno. I cursed myself for not being able to watch it earlier.The reluctance of the directors to use sound and music in the movie actually pays off. There are many gems in the movie. Though the film moves at a slow pace, you can't somehow predict the next scene. You feel hopeless not being able to but you'll love it if you love unpredictable plots. Anyway, I've given away many spoilers. Maybe, you can! Rather a brilliant catch for me.

Winner of the Cannes Palme d'Or Award, this tale centers on Bruno (Jeremie Renier), a 20-year-old who spends his days stealing and drug dealing, showing no interest in cleaning up his act when his 18-year-old girlfriend, Sonia (Déborah François), gives birth to their son. In fact, the only thing the dysfunctional Bruno sees in his new baby is a new way to make money -- a decision that he soon regrets. When the single mother Sonia returns home with her newborn son, she finds that the baby's father Bruno had rented her apartment for a couple. She seeks out Bruno, who is a small time young thief that has a gang with two other teenagers, on the streets and they go to a shelter to stay during the cold night. On the next morning, they register the child with the name of Jimmy. When Bruno receives a proposal from his dealer for selling Jimmy for adoption for five thousand Euros, he steals the baby and sells him to his contact. However, when Sonia discovers what Bruno did, she faints, goes to the hospital and reports the transaction to the police. Bruno calls off the transaction and retrieves Jimmy, but has to pay to the dealers another five thousand Euros, and this is the beginning of his descent to hell and final redemption. Renier and Francois give deeply affecting performances that help soften the film's harsh blows. L'Infant won the "Palme d'Or" award in 2005 Cannes Film Festival Rosetta. It was also nominated for Best Film and Best Actor (for Renier) at the European Film Awards. The film was chosen as Belgium's official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards, but it failed to secure a nomination. Set in an industrial city in eastern Belgium, L'Infant is shot with the unmistakable Dardenne trademarks: a shaky hand-held camera, natural sounds with no background music, a concern for the underclass that globalization left behind, and a gritty and realistic look and feel. This movie has many strong points,but it failed to consistently keep my interest, but personally I came away wondering what exactly the director was trying to prove by making this film. The film shows that even a hardened criminal can redeem himself when he understands the enormity of his crime. Construction/Production wise this film is a technically precise film, lensed by longtime Dardenne collaborator Alain Marcoen with his typical reliance on unfiltered natural light and elegant shallow-space compositions. However the entire plot of this movie bored me. I have seen enough criminals in action in real life. At the end of the movie is he actually redeemed? This movie affected me like a reality TV thing. Too much detachment and not enough plot. 3 stars

This Belgium's film makes you think how there are people in this world who make things without realizing the consequences that will cause their actions that will hurt their loving ones. Infant, L' is about a young couple who just had a baby boy but they are so immature to raise him. The father is Bruno, he is a thief and he doesn't care much about the baby unlike Sonia who is the mother. Bruno lives only for the moment so he is always looking to get money to survive the day that's why he steals with some teens. But one day Bruno sells his baby and when he tells Sonia about it like the most normal thing showing her the money expecting that she will get happy, real problems will begin for Bruno....This movie doesn't have much dialog is more about physical expressions of/between the two leading characters and its pace is a little slow . So if you don't like this kind of movies maybe this is not for you, but I have to say I don't like most of this kind of films but I liked this one, so I advice you to take a chance and watch it because at the end if you didn't like it, at least it will have left you something to think a about.