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Only a highly-skilled director-auteur could have told this emotionally-charged story in an entertaining fashion.
And that's what director Jacques Audiard did with Rust and Bone, starring one of France's most popular actress Marion Cotillard.
This story starts out when Stephanie, played by Cotillard, is working at a sea world show by feeding the Orca, killer whales. Out of the clear blue, all hell breaks loose. The platform she is standing on to feed the Orca collapses and she is crippled for life. At the hospital, she is given two prosthetic limbs to walk. Her life changes.
Along comes Ali, played by Matthias Schoenaerts, who she had met at a nightclub when she had two strong legs and loved dancing. Having given him her phone number, he finally calls her. They met. He had seen her accident on the news, so he isn't completely surprised by her artificial legs. He also had his own problems. He had left his girlfriend, and took his five-year-old son Sam, played by Armand Verdure, to move in with his sister, Anna, played by Corinne Masiero, in Antibes, in the south of France.
The thing is, however, Ali, has trouble finding a steady job. He no longer works as a security bouncer at the nightclub where he met Stephanie. Now he works as a part-time installer of surveillance cameras. Having to take care of his son, and maintaining a relationship with Stephanie has placed undue burdens on Ali. To make some more money to help his sister and his son, he takes on kickboxing matches for the money. He gets hurt, but at least, the kickboxing gig pays the bills.
This story, however, focuses more on Stephanie's legs than it does on Ali's financial woes. As a loving boyfriend, he takes her to the beach where she enjoys swimming. To get her to the water, he has to carry her. Once in the water, Stephanie feels at home again, and swims, swims, and swims. As Ali looks at her go, swimming without legs.
Kudos goes to the director of this excellent movie, Audiard. To put together a movie of such a story can't be easy. But he did it. The movie works. Plus it's entertaining, despite of the misery, shattered dreams, and the impoverished down and out players. Audiard paces the movie brilliantly. He tells the story through his own interpretation. It's the movie director as auteur in the same vein as Francois Truffaut, Jean Renoir, and Luis Brunel.
And just when one thinks things could get worse for the characters. Things get worse. Ali's sister is caught by the surveillance cameras, installed by Ali, stealing expired food. As a result, she gets fired. Upset she blames her brother, who moves up north to Strabourg where his son ends up in the hospital after a tragic accident on the ice.
This emotionally charged story, Rust and Bone, comes at the viewer at different angles. Yet it's an entertaining movie, one of the reasons is the brilliant acting by Cotillard, and her co-star Matthias Schoenaerts. Sure, director Jacques Audiard deserves credit for telling such a sad story in a watchable entertaining fashion. Yet one of the secrets of his accomplishment to make quite a brilliant movie was the actress and actor he used to tell about the down and out misfortunate survivalists in an unpredictable, unsteady, topsy-turvy world. This movie is a brutal, hard-core squeeze on one's idea of humanity and the struggle of daily living. Clearly opposite of the feel good comedies. Rust and Bone is more about feel good I'm a human and I care. As far as the language, this movie is entirely in French. Yet it's simply enough for an intermediate French student to understand.
Yet Audiard lets the images, not words, tell the story. And he does so masterfully like a genuine cinema auteur.
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2024
- Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2025
Top reviews from other countries
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Client d'AmazonReviewed in France on November 4, 2024
Un des meilleurs films français des 20 dernières années
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- Kindle CustomerReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 12, 2014
Waving not Drowning
- DaveReviewed in Australia on May 4, 2021
A Thinking Man's Love Story.
THIS FRENCH FILM DVD CONTAINS SUBTITLES.DaveA Thinking Man's Love Story.
Reviewed in Australia on May 4, 2021
My "Rust And Bone" DVD arrived on time and is in good condition. Thank you to all the folks at Amazon (Au) and Australia Post for making this possible. Greatly appreciated.
"Rust And Bone" is about adversity and how that impacts our relationships and influences our lives. The film is austere, forbidding and quite harrowing. A couple of times I uncomfortably squirmed when a child was vigorously shaken, tossed and hit their head on a table. This movie is no fairy tale or Harlequin romance. But, stay to the end to see all the amazing silver linings.
Our characters are Ali (principle character) who experienced adversity during childhood. Sam (Ali's 5 year old son) who apparently is facing much of the same adversity that his father did (a repeating pattern). Stephanie who is robbed of her cherished career by a tragic work accident. Anna (Ali's sister) who is financially shackled to work that she despises. Each is facing adversity in different ways.
Characterisations are mostly gleaned from our characters conduct. Although, a little is revealed by the characters dialogue. Ali is a violent selfish man with few social skills. When his fists can't fight his battles, he runs away. Sam is a confused and a frightened little boy who really knows neither a mother or father, yet alone a stable household. Stephanie (accidental acquaintance of Ali) through physical disability has her world shattered when she is cruelly robbed of her cherished career, her life. She is finding it exceedingly difficult to adjust and adapt to her new circumstances. Anna (Ali's sister) is financially shackled to work that she despises. All to keep a roof over her families head. All our characters are experiencing adversity, with differing effects.
A casual acquaintance between, Ali and Stephanie, leads to a one night stand and that develops into a loving relationship. Stephanie shows Ali how to engage with others to develop a relationship. Ali provides the confidence that Stephanie requires to adapt to her new life. Both are bonded together by their co-dependency. However, there are hiccups along the way. Whenever Ali becomes overwhelmed by emotional issues he reverts to old habits and runs away, again. It takes a near fatal accident, involving his son, for Ali to realise the love he feels for his son and to overcome his fear of losing him.
The main actors performances are mesmerising. They inject true emotions into their characters. Truly believable character portrayals.
The sets are well lit so there are no overly dark scenes. Camera angles and camera distance support the actors in conveying emotion.
This DVD upscale remarkably well. 4K upscaling reveals a light, quite well defined image with good colour and generally low noise. A very watchable movie.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I found it very engrossing. Although, confronting at first, it leaves you feeling good by the end. Well worth your consideration.
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