MovieChat Forums > Le silence de Lorna (2008) Discussion > Pregnancy? SPOILER ALERT!

Pregnancy? SPOILER ALERT!

posted 15 years ago by films42
14 replies | jump to latest

Lorna is NOT pregnant! Lorna is guilty!

Lorna never expected that Claudy would seriously attempt to kick his habit & begin a new "straight" life (presumably with her). She's touched by his effort to clean-up, & flustered when he won't hit her (which she asks him to do so she will have grounds to divorce him). She's obviously meeting his family for the first time when she attempts to "return" his money, & seeing how cold they are makes her empathize with his plight even more. The fact that she's literally profiting from his death makes her miserable.

Lorna is NOT pregnant! Lorna is guilty! The "baby" she's talking to at the end is the last shred of humanity that she's desperately trying to hold on to, even in dire circumstances.

Sorry to be so blunt, but reading some of these comments is painful :-(

Huge thanks to Philip Concannon for actually asking this question in an interview:

http://philonfilm.blogspot.com/2008/11/interview-jean-pierre-and-luc-dardenne.html

Here are Luc Dardenne's exact words: "...the return of the ghost of Claudy in her belly is guilt..."

Jan Lisa Huttner
FILMS FOR TWO
www.films42.com

[–] mackjay2 15 years ago

I just saw the film and I think she is pregnant. When she is taken to the hospital and she sees the nurse whom she had told about the (fake) beating, she asks her to come see her later. I think she asks the nurse to arrange for doctors to say she is not pregnant in front of Fabio. This is to avoid the forced abortion.

[–] films42 15 years ago

but then it's a much less interesting film with a far-fetched plot, & you're deliberately ignoring what the director/writer said in the interview.

Consider this, Mackjay2: everything in the film is rigorously told from Lorna's POV so we don't see Claudy die because Lorna doesn't see Claudy die. Do you really think Lorna would have had such a critical conversation with this nurse & it would all be off-screen?

And then what? Knowing she's in danger, the nurse lies & the doctor lies, & then they release her, still pregnant... into the tender loving care of Fabio?!?

But hey, I've done my best to make my case.

Have a great day!
Jan

[–] mackjay2 15 years ago

Several key scenes are left off screen, including the death of Claudy.

You could be right about this, but I think the sex scene with Claudy was meant to imply she got pregnant. And how about the scene where Lorna sees a doctor about the abortion and changes her mind? Wouldn't that doctor know if she wasn't really pregnant? I should watch it again, maybe they did not yet examine her and she changes her mind not wanting to know she is really NOT pregnant? That seems far-fetched to me. Well I think it's an effective film either way. The pregnancy, real or imagined, would be Lorna's way of coming to terms with what she has done to the junkie and a way of atoning for it.

[–] films42 15 years ago

I'm quite sure she leaves the office before he has a chance to examine her, Mackjay2. And why should ONE sexual encounter imply pregnancy when it's so clear they've never had sex before? Of course sometimes a woman does become pregnant after a single sexual encounter, that's pretty rare.

If I were pregnant & I really wanted to keep the baby, then I would seduce my boyfriend pronto so he wouldn't abandon me at the point I most needed him. And speaking of him, why are you assuming the baby (if there were one) would be Claudy's based on a single sexual encounter anyway?

I would point you to the moment she "realizes" she's pregnant. She's on the staircase, running from the second floor to the third floor (where the bedrooms are!), talking to her boyfriend on cell, when suddenly... she collapses... Why? Either she was a virgin at the point she slept with Claudy in which case she won't be a virgin the first time she sleeps with her boyfriend, or she's sleeping with her boyfriend & she suddenly realizes she's betrayed him as well as Claudy. Either way: guilt, guilt, guilt!!!

I just don't see any narrative advantage to a real pregnancy when the case for a psychodynamic "pregnancy" is so compelling.

All best,
Jan

PS: It's a beautiful day here in Chicago, but we're just about to leave for a 4 PM screening of THE BAADER-MEINHOF COMPLEX. How 'bout you?

[–] mackjay2 15 years ago

Well Jan you can make a better case for your view than I can for mine. I have only seen it once and you have given it a lot more thought.
I will see it again and consider your ideas.

Have a good one

Jay

[–] films42 15 years ago

I envy you, Jay. It's long gone on this end so I'll have to wait for DVD. Like you, I'm quite eager to see it again now to "test my theories." Perhaps I'm totally wrong!!! I'm definitely open to your critique if you do go again.

But suffice it to say that I was extremely moved by LORNA'S SILENCE, & the ending of the film I thought I saw really pierced me thru the heart!

By the way, we liked TBMC a great deal (altho "like" seems like the wrong word to use in context). We both rate it 4/5.

Bye now,

Jan
www.films42.com

[–] films42 15 years ago

Hi, Jay.

I realize now that I owe you an apology for coming on so strong in some of my messages. Per message to Gajanzen below, I realized later why I was so pigheaded about my own interpretation. Protocol dictates that one critic can not directly take on the column of a colleague, but I guess I was so hurt by what the person quoted below said that his words were imbedded in my brain...

My only defense is that "Lorna" became very real to me & I felt over-protective, wanting to "save her" even after the credits rolled. Talk about Dona Quixote ;-)

All best,
Jan

[–] mackjay2 15 years ago

HI Jan

No apology necessary.

Take care, enjoy the Autumn or Fall if you call it that!

JM

[–] films42 15 years ago

Our favorite time of year :-)

Best always,

Jan

[–] DoomCraft 15 years ago

It was definitely guilt. The 'baby' was nothing more than a figment of Lorna's imagination which I saw as Lorna trying/hoping that part of Claudy would live on as she can't accept she has helped 'erasing' him from existence.

"You see Republicans and Liberals
I see wolves and wolves in sheep’s clothing"

[–] gajanzen 15 years ago

You're right, Jan: of course Lorna's not pregnant. This point is so obvious that it's scarcely worth mentioning. She's even told at one point (by a nurse? a doctor?) that she isn't.

[–] films42 15 years ago

Well, Gajanzen, I thought I had to mention it precisely because so many people missed it...

I realized after our eChats that poor Jay ("Mackjay2") had taken the brunt of arguments I was actually directing to one of my film critic colleagues here in Chgo who not only gave the whole ending away (horrors!), but got the ending wrong (eek!), & then downgraded the film because of his own misconstrued "bad ending" (for shame!).

["The creaky plot mechanics of the sexual encounter and the unlikely pregnancy might have gone unnoticed in a cheesy commercial thriller, but in films as fiercely realistic as these, such contrivances call more attention to themselves." In context, this critic clearly believes the pregnancy is real...]

<INSERT BIG SIGH HERE>

What can I say other than to repeat that I really loved this film & I was deeply, deeply moved by Lorna's predicament from first scene to last?

All best!
Jan

[–] Thereminator101 14 years ago

My interpretation was that it was a "guilt baby",They did decide to kill her and that it was from the top down,and that the cabin scene was largely symbolic as they would most likely kill her in the near future.

[–] Pierreism 14 years ago

This thread should be permanently bumped. There is no room for interpretation really. I don't think there ever has been in a Dardenne :)