Dos días, una noche

After 12 Angry Men come 16 dissatisfied men and women. They are stuck in their unsatisfying jobs, which makes them easy to manipulate. They might not even be aware of their dependent position in the capitalist system if Sandra had not approached them with her request. The main dilemma that they are faced with is whether to conform and vote with the majority or to weigh their decision and possibly take on greater responsibility. While the indecisive co-workers have to struggle a bit with their own morals, Sandra fights for her lost self-respect, family stability and faith in her own existence. She would most like to not be seen or heard. She would most like to simply not be. Her self-confidence has fallen to less than zero.  Marion Cotillard expresses the character’s feelings of shame and resignation through timid gestures, a hunched posture, a blank expression on her face without makeup and excessive gratitude for every display of humanity. ___ The long shots/sequences that comprise each of the encounters enable her to portray a change of mood from apathetic sadness to cautious joy, from resignation to determination in one go and without losing contact with the setting (which in the Dardenne brothers’ films conditions the behaviour and positioning of the characters). Mainly thanks to her family, she slowly realises that regular doses of Xanax and self-denial are not the only way out. One of the things that makes this apparent to her is the slowly waning interpersonal solidarity. It evidently makes Sandra happy if she can share something with her loved ones, such as a song (sung together in the car) or food (the film begins with taking a cake out of the oven; her husband works as a cook). ___ The brief moments of happiness liven up the intentionally and repetitively stultifying narrative structure. However, the repetition of the same types of situations does not diminish the film’s dramatic potential. We can count down the remaining time and how many people are left to visit, and after the pattern is established, we are kept in anticipation of how the next co-worker that Sandra approaches will respond to her request, and whether it will be a man, a woman, a white person, a black person, a younger person or an older person. The social and ethnic diversity of the supporting characters, none of which is a one-dimensional stereotype, and the effort to take the motivations for their decisions into account and their various responses are indicative of the filmmakers’ empathy, as they do not judge or simplify, and they do not handle the characters as if they were inanimate tools to further the narrative (you have the feeling that the characters exist even outside of the space staked out for them in the film). ___ The setting of a deadline and the structuring of the narrative into brief segments takes Two Days, One Night out of the realm of documentary-style verism that is characteristic of some of the Dardennes’ earlier films, but the strong humanistic message has not been weakened in any way by the more elaborate structure of the plot. Furthermore, the development of the drama never seems overly forced, thanks to the smooth incorporation of more conventional narrative elements (a suicide attempt, leaving an abusive husband) into the flow of the action and the consistent consideration of socioeconomic determinants. ___ Thanks to the clear structure akin to that of a folk ballad (but without a clear ending) in which the protagonist faces a difficult test, the Dardennes were able to emphasise the allegorical subtext and timelessness of the drama, which is outwardly tied to a specific situation and setting. With its apt metaphor for the capitalist system (the workers are at each other’s throats while the boss skates), the film doesn’t slip into didacticism while presenting us with the same questions that Sandra indirectly challenges her co-workers to ask. Would we put our comfortable membership in the majority over our own inner ethical convictions? Would we sacrifice ourselves for a person with whom we have almost nothing in common except our social status? These are questions that I am afraid to answer. 80% (09.12.2014) (menos) (más)