Top 3 performances in Dardenne movies
1. Olivier Gourmet in 'Le fils'
2. Émilie Dequenne in 'Rosetta'
3. Jérémie Renier in 'L'enfant'
Their cinema is rich with great acting, but I think Olivier's performance in this takes the cake.
I have Rosetta pending, along with The Silence of Lorna to complete my viewing of the Dardennes brothers' films. I agree with your number one; what a powerful performance from Olivier Gourmet. He's a brilliant actor anyway and he was given a wonderful role in Le Fils. Gourmet was very, very good in La Promesse too.
I found Renier to be as good in La Promesse and Le Gamin au Vélo as L'enfant; so can't decide amongst his roles which is the best even though he had a cameo in Le Gamin au Vélo.
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Good evening, Poppy.
Hope you get to see 'Rosetta' soon, it's truly an essential viewing for any Dardenne fan. 'Lorna's Silence' was also good and, interestingly, a slight stylistic leap, but it felt a bit less personal and authentic to me.
I had some difficulty to give the bronze medal in this list, but I opted for Renier's performance in 'L'enfant' because I wanted to spread some love and go with one who truly carried his movie. A conjoined award for him and Gourmet in 'La Promesse' would've also made sense, but I decided to award both on what I think to be their maximum spotlight role.
Good evening to you too Mr Eb. It's been a while. May be I'll watch one of the films this evening ... may be. The problem for me with Rosetta is Émilie Dequenne. She's a good actress, I've seen her in two films, but I'm not sure I enjoy looking at her - if that makes sense!
I loved when Gourmet and Renier did the duet to "Suddenly You Love Me" in La Promesse. Poignant moment for a number of reasons. I won't argue over Renier as bronze medalist. I like him very much as an actor and he's been good in every film I've seen featuring him. He's a 'go to' actor when making film selections.
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The problem for me with Rosetta is Émilie Dequenne. She's a good actress, I've seen her in two films, but I'm not sure I enjoy looking at her - if that makes sense!
Oh, I do understand what you mean. She's a bit hard on the eyes, although I would have thought that to be more of a problem to me than to you.
Which are the movies you've seen her in? It's just a physical thing or don't you like her presence/she gives you a negative kind of vibe? share
I've seen her in La Fille du RER and Our Children. I think it's to do with her emotional presence. In part it makes me feel uncomfortable and I don't like or enjoy it. I find her face simultaneously fascinating and quite ugly as well! Perhaps she gets under my skin and touches aspects of me I don't like, I dunno ...
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That's interesting; thanks for elaborating.
I think she was quite extraordinary in 'Our Children', a film I find to be rivetingly disturbing. I think the fact that she's able to leave the viewer in such an uncomfortable state is actually evidence of her acting's strength.
I have 'La Fille du RER' in my DVD collection, although I haven't seen it yet (I actually find Téchiné's body of work to be rather uneven).
She was compelling in Our Children. I felt her spiralling depression as though it were my own. Yes I admit that my reaction towards her on screen might refelct her skill as an actress.
I wasn't that keen on La Fille du RER. Frustratingly, Andre Téchiné's films are hard to obtain with English subtitles.
I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.share
Updated as of 2016:
1. Olivier Gourmet in "Le fils"
2. Émilie Dequenne in "Rosetta"
3. Adèle Haenel in "La Fille inconnue"