Rust and Bone
March 2013
When deadbeat dad (Ali) and his son (Sam) hitchhike to live with Ali’s sister in Antibes (France), you’re thinking this father and son relationship has no hope and you’ve got two hours to watch a relationship disintegrate with tragic consequences. Joy.
But Jacques Audiard’s (A Prophet, The Beat that my Heart Skipped) latest takes a different, but no less emotional, journey. After Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) takes a job as a nightclub bouncer (and Schoenaerts personifies a club bouncer to perfection) he rescues Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) from a fight and drives her home in a seemingly courteous display. But Ali isn’t charming. On the drive he observes that his damsel in distress dresses like a whore. Later we discover Stephanie is a killer whale trainer for a cheesy Sea World type show after the two end up at her place. Nothing happens between the two. They aren’t really interested in each other. Despite both being tough, selfish, arrogant and prone to getting themselves into dangerous situations, they don’t match, even though he is a shallow Neanderthal while she is looking for trouble.
An accident changes everything. One of the orcas pulls a Siegfried & Roy white tiger move and sends Stephanie to the emergency room. She wakes up minus her legs. While she recovers, Ali switches jobs to security. Still a bad father, he has quickie sex with random girls while thinking about returning to kickboxing – or illegal backyard fights in the ghetto. A few months down the road Stephanie calls Ali out of the blue, distracting him from his negligible parenting duties. What begins as an unlikely friendship turns into something more and even though the unlikely friendship theme could almost be a cinematic genre of its own, their connection and partnership is nonetheless moving and surprising.
The two leads, Cotillard and Schoenaerts, are spectacular. Their relationship is one of the most interesting I’ve seen on screen in many years. Academy Award winner, and regular Christopher Nolan star, Cotillard has garnered all the plaudits for her role as the former orca trainer who has to cope with life minus her legs but equally as impressive is Schoenaers as Ali, a perceived knucklehead whose stubborn ways helps Stephanie more than she could imagine. Each character is far from perfect. When not together, both can be pretty damn awful but there is something surprisingly sweet about this couple that connect at illegal street fights. With the right balance of sentimentality and rawness, Rust and Bone is a feel good film for people who despise feel good movies.
Rated MA 15+. On general release from March 28.
Other Articles You May Like
The Angels’ Share
With a heart, a brain and a great sense of humour, Ken Loach’s latest is surprisingly warm and uplifting, without…
Galleries
Weather
20°Latest Edition
