MVFF37: Two Days, One Night

Last week's press announcement for the Mill Valley Film Festival included a preview of Two Days, One Night, a drama about social responsibility, set in Belgium. Actress Marion Cotillard is sympathetic & believable as a working-class mother returning to her factory job after a nervous breakdown. She discovers that the company prefers to fire her & give her remaining co-workers 1,000€ bonuses out of the cost-cut. Her co-workers will vote for keeping her job or the bonus, so she spends a grueling weekend visiting each of them at their homes & pleading for her job. The movie is photographed with a bright, sharp clarity & is humorlessly realistic. The run-up to the vote at the end of the film provides built-in suspense. Two Days, One Night will play at the Mill Valley Film Festival on October 11 & 12.

§ Two Days, One Night (Deux jours, une nuit)
Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne, dirs.
Belgium, France, Italy, 2014, 95 mins.

§ The 37th Mill Valley Film Festival
Sequoia 1, Sat, Oct 11 5:45 PM
Rafael 1, Sun, Oct 12 2:00 PM