Rust and Bone – Film Review
Director: Jacques Audiard
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts and Armand Verdure
Distributor: Sony Pictures
In 2009, Audiard delivered a film that is best described as an absolute knockout. A Prophet was an astonishingly well-made film, perfectly paced, exciting and memorable. It put Audiard on the map as a director to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, with his latest feature, Rust and Bone, he appears to have missed a step.
The plot focuses on Ali (Schoenaerts), a hardened young man who is out to find work to support his son, and he isn’t too bothered about whether the work is legal or not. He stumbles across Stèphanie (Cotillard), a killer whale trainer, in a night club as she breaks away from a scuffle. The two have a rocky start but, once Stèphanie suffers from a crippling accident, the two find they have a symbiotic need for one another to keep themselves going in a cruel and unsympathetic world.
The main issue with Rust and Bone is that it lacks energy. It starts off with promise, showing Ali and his son, Sam, struggling to get by as best they can. It sets up Ali’s character well, showing that he is a survivor and has a very gruff but caring relationship with his son. However, once they settle down with Ali’s sister, the film falls into a lull. There are moments, such as Stèphanie’s accident or Ali’s street fights, that feel like they should be very intense, but that sense of emotional gratification never arrives. Perhaps this is a statement on the part of the director, that we need to be emotionally hardened to survive. It certainly fits in with the theme of the film, but it does not make for particularly engaging viewing.
The performances, at least, are satisfactory, but only satisfactory. Cotillard is able to conjure up powerful emotion in her performances, but it is in her quiet and contemplative moments here that she really shines. Schoenaerts, in comparison, is quite reserved, but his casual delivery is well suited for the character he is depicting. Ali, while difficult to relate to, proves an interesting character study. He seems, in short, to be an utter bastard, but there is a suggestion, the faintest spark in his mannerisms, that suggests that there is more to his ethical code than the audience might think. This reflection, sadly, does not come to fruition, despite the fact the films conclusion might have you think that it does.
There are moments of greatness however, and these are almost always presented to us visually. A single moment in the third act, which occurs in the background and out of focus, brings about the one of the few emotional responses in the audience, and is particularly well executed. The first time Stèphanie returns to the water after her accident, her overwhelming sense of fulfillment is beautifully captured in the focus on the sunlight bouncing off of tranquil waters. The most memorable shot of the film involves her re-connection with an old friend that is well complimented by a strategic use of music and also strangely hypnotic.
In the end though, these brief moments of the sublime cannot compensate for a film that fails to be particularly thought-provoking or illicit a decent emotional response. These characters, they’re a-hurtin’, but their refusal to reach out to anyone means that we lose interest in their journey far earlier than the director is optimistically hoping for. An unfortunate misstep, but hopefully not his downfall.
Score: 2/5
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