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Early premiere followed by Q/A with the director (spoilers)

posted 11 years ago by PoppyTransfusion
4 replies | jump to latest

The film tells the story of a marriage in which there are three. Murielle, a Belgian teacher, meets Mounir, a Moroccan resident in Belgium, they fall in love and he proposes. Mounir shares the home of a doctor, Andre, who acts as a patron to the young couple - providing them with a home, paying for their honeymoon (and then joining them on it!), just two of the many examples of his generosity and 'gifts' to the couple. What Murielle does not know is that Andre has been helping Mounir and his siblings migrate to Belgium: Andre married Mounir's sister purely so that she can gain residency, Andre sponsors Mounir into Belgium and later arranges a marriage between Samir, the youngest brother, and Murielle's sister Francois.

Andre's influence is controlling as well as generous and we witness the effects it has on the marriage and in particular on Murielle. The director likened this domestic situation to that of economic relationships between colonial countries and their former colonies. What Andre gives as a gift has strings attached and his gifts, his money and support, can be withdrawn wholesale if he no longer cares for the relationship, as we see him threaten Mounir. Such a situation prevails in the financial relationships between countries too.

Murielle and Mounir have 4 children quite rapidly and this adds another strain to their relationship and to Murielle who, exhausted and unappreciated in her efforts and subject to criticisms from Mounir and Andre, begins to spiral downwards into depression and suicidal thoughts. The director said this side of the story was personal to him as his grandmother had had 5 children and then he witnessed his mother's struggles to cope with a pair of twins. He referred to men lacking the courage to see the woman's struggle as a mother of young children and this is evoked in the relationship between Mounir and Murielle.

The story is wholly fictional but the frame is based on a true case in Belgium where a woman married to a Moroccan who lived with her husband's benefactor, a doctor, killed her children. The director had to fight a court case to gain permission to tell a fictional story inspired by the true events. Even after he won the court case and was allowed to proceed with filming, the Belgians remained aloof about the film. Since its reception in Cannes and elsewhere Belgium has changed its attitude towards seeing the film. The director said there are challenges to creating fictional stories based on real events in Belgium.

The film deals with the tragedy, Murielle killing her 4 children, most subtly and we, the audience, are spared any scene in which we see the young endearing children die. This was purposeful and one of the first decisions the director made, not to show the killings. He shares with Haneke, whose view was referred to during the Q/A, the belief that an act of violence prevents the audience from thinking and reflecting on the film afterwards. The director said he wanted the audience to remain lucid and able to reflect on the film and the characters in spite of their actions. I think this is most important and indeed the way the tragedy is handled was incredibly sad because you know what is happening even though you don't see it and yet you never lose the overall perspective within which the tragedy occured.

There was a discussion about how the casting choices came about and the pressure on the director to make good having reunited Arestrup and Rahim from A Prophet. Originally Gerard Depardieu was to play Andre but he withdrew, without explanation, about a month before filming began. Rahim suggested Arestrup for the role of Andre.

Regarding the music: The soundtrack consists of baroque classical pieces. This was a directorial decision because baroque is more spiritual and less emotional. Also the structure of baroque music, which I won't try and repeat as I didn't understand too well the director's explanation, fit with the thematic movement intended within the film.

A good film with good performances especially from the actress playing Murielle who was outstanding.

Away with the manners of withered virgins

[–] filmfancy 11 years ago

Thanks for the review, much appreciated.

I just watched this last night, but my dvd did not have subtitles. My french is pretty good, but I may have missed a few things.

I thought André had married Mounir's mother and thus adopted Mounir, but then it didn't make sense why the mother was still living in Morocco. I had also wondered how André knew Mounir's family.

Aside from that, I admired the film. The actors were perfect; the direction subtle but powerful, especially the last part of the film.

I thought Murielle's downward spiral was handled very well. We see the transition from young happy woman into increasingly harried and unappreciated mother. Whether she was suffering from post-partum depression or just being in over her head with a large family (you could tell by her 4th pregnancy that she was not happy) is left up to the viewer.

It seemed that she was slightly fearful of Mounir as she could have had an abortion instead of having the fourth child, but it did not even come up in the conversation even though he seemed uncertain about having another child as well. Maybe in his culture women had to have large families, and the fourth child turned out to be a boy after the previous three girls. He did seem to be happy about having that son. Maybe this was the cultural clash that proved too much for Murielle. Had they stopped at two children she may have been better able to cope.

Ironically, she wanted to live in Morocco. She seemed more at ease there and got along well with Mounir's mother. They should have gone, but Mounir was more loyal to André than to his wife. So in the end it will be he and André after all.

Just a note--I think the french title is more appropriate: "À perdre la raison," which literally means 'to lose reason.'

"And all the pieces matter" (The Wire)

[–] PoppyTransfusion 11 years ago

Glad you apreciated my post and the film.

It's never explained as to how Andre became acquainted with Mounir's family. Was it via the sister, with whom he entered into a sham marriage? Or did he meet Mounir first and then marry the sister having met her through Mounir? Or did he know the family from Morocco?

I really liked how the relationship between Murielle and Mounir's mother was captured. It's one of the few happy moments in the film although it was sad as the mother could see what was happening with Murielle where the men (Andre and Mounir) seemed oblivious.

I think the original French title was better too as this happens to Murielle and was what the director wanted to avoid happening with his audience as they watched the unfolding tragedy. I really liked the director; very intelligent and thoughtful in his decision making and process. He was a most interesting person to listen to and I wish the interview had been longer. I hope to see some more of him films in due course.

Keep silent unless what you are going to say is more important than silence.

[–] Pequod88 10 years ago

Your thoughtful posts on this powerful film are appreciated.

Émilie Dequenne's unforgettable performance in Rosetta was what made me curious to see Our Children. I became an admirer of the Dardenne brothers, and have seen all of their films, which always make a strong impression.

Ms. Dequenne is excellent in this film. Niels Arestrup is also quite good, as I expected, having found him especially powerful in The Beat that My Heart Skipped. It would have been easy to mishandle such shocking material, yet the director, Joachim Lafosse, trusts the imagination of the audience, avoiding sensationalism and melodrama in favor of a slowly building sense of dread. The film makes a very strong impression that will not soon be forgotten, as is true of the wonderful Émilie Dequenne. Highly recommended.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 10 years ago

Like yourself I'm an admirer and lover of the Dardenne brothers' films though I haven't seen them all, as yet.

I saw this film as part of a short season premiering French language films; I saw three where the directors were in attendance and participated in Q/As after the film. Joachim Lafosse was the most impressive of the three; articulate and deeply reflective. I respected his directorial choices so much as a result, most particularly when he spoke of how he decided to film the pivotal scene where the mother kills her children.

The film belongs to Émilie Dequenne; I felt a dull sense of misery watching her descent into depression. It wasn't comfortable but it was powerful.

The distance is nothing. The first step is the hardest.