Le silence de lorna (Dardenne Bros)
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Le silence de lorna (Dardenne Bros)
The Dardenne brothers' latest is set to be released in France/Benelux on March 5. Optional English, French, and Dutch subs for the main feature will be provided.
David Nusair:
It's virtually impossible to mistake Le Silence de Lorna as anything other than the latest effort from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, as the film is rife with precisely the sort of elements that one has come to associate with the brothers' body of work (ie low-key storytelling, shaky camerawork, etc). The movie - which follows a young Albanian woman (Arta Dobroshi's Lorna) as she attempts to cope with a sham marriage designed to make her a Belgian citizen - unfolds in a manner that's admittedly impossible to anticipate, as the filmmaking siblings essentially drop the viewer into Lorna's life with a bare minimum of exposition or set-up. There's little doubt that the Dardenne's penchant for doling out information in deliberate increments proves crucial in sustaining the viewer's interest, although one can't help but question their decision to omit a fairly significant occurrence within Lorna's life at around the one-hour mark (we only learn about it afterwards and subsequently can't help but fleetingly wonder if a missed reel is the culprit). Dobroshi - whose resemblance to Ellen Page borders on distracting - offers up a masterful performance that generally proves effective in smoothing over the film's deficiencies, and while there's ultimately not a whole lot distinguishing Le Silence de Lorna from the Dardenne's previous kitchen-sink dramas, it's certainly difficult to overlook the almost uncomfortably authentic vibe that's been hard-wired into the proceedings (the strangely abrupt conclusion does leave something to be desired, however).