JESSICA ONI
Staff Writer
In an industry smothered by meaningless dialogue and conversation, French writer-director pair Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have created a film centered around silence. It is called “L’ Enfant” (The Child), and its nearly wordless plot is sure to keep viewers intrigued throughout the entire film.
The documentary-style film captures a few days in the lives of Bruno (Jérémie Renier) and Sonia (Déborah Francois), a young Belgian couple, and their newborn son, Jimmy.
Employing one dialogue-bare scene after another, the Dardenne brothers urge viewers to find ways other than verbal communication to connect with the film’s protagonists. Thankfully, in every instance where words are lacking, action and imagery speak boldly.
A blunt, character-driven film, “L’ Enfant” forces viewers to pay close attention to the actions and reactions characters have on each other and to the physical environment. The result is a silence that is too intense and tension-filled for words.
The film begins with a series of images: Sonia, adorned in knee-high black leather boots and an animal-print skirt, searches frantically for her beggar-by-choice boyfriend, Bruno. She carries their newborn son in her arms. She finally finds Bruno panhandling on a busy street.
Bruno, an emotionless and undeservedly good-looking vagabond wears a bright green T-shirt for the majority of the film. The lively green of his shirt serves as a direct contrast to the numb, colorless bore of his daily life. Whereas green typically represents success, growth and prosperity, on Bruno it becomes synonymous with failure.
As though this irony were not powerful enough, the film constantly depicts Bruno outdoors with the lush, green landscape as a backdrop.
Bruno’s first reaction to his son is silence — indifference even. In fact, he can’t even manage to fix both of his eyes on Jimmy for more than a few seconds before he’s busy scanning the streets for his next steal.
It is soon revealed that while Sonia was in labor, Bruno sublet their sole possession, Sonia’s apartment, in order to get a few fast bucks. This is only one of a plethora of instances in the film where Bruno’s selfishness and spur-of-the-moment schemes get him in trouble.
Homeless and incapable of thinking beyond their immediate desires, Bruno and Sonia appear to be in a perpetual state of childhood, which makes their status as parents all the more ironic.
Throughout the entire film, the couple dawn bright, primary colors. When Bruno finally ditches his bright green T-shirt, he puts on an equally bright and childish red sweatshirt. Sonia wears a vivid red sweater.
The overall attire of the film’s protagonists is noteworthy as well. At one point, the pair buy matching leather jackets. After a fight, Bruno sells Sonia’s jacket for one Euro. The childish apparel of the couple is set in direct opposition to the pale blue jacket their child wears throughout the film.
Fighting between the couple is resolved by silence. After Bruno attempts to sell their son for some quick cash, Sonia refuses to speak to him. Usually more silent than she, it is at this point that the two metaphorically switch roles. Desperate for her attention, and she is unwilling to give it. The emotionless, angry vagabond from the film’s beginning has completely been transformed by the film’s gripping, wordless final scene.
Fans of independent film will appreciate the artistry of “L’ Enfant,” which doesn’t allow one to merely sit back and watch. The film offers a much needed escape from the predictable, trite dialogue too often employed in today’s large-scale films.
03-30-2006
