Sorry but I really really hated Ali. He's just a thuggish 'macho' yob who sees no problem in beating up women and children. Did anyone actually care about him? I know at the end with what happens to Sam is probably supposed to be evidence of his character evolving or whatever but I still just didn't care for him at all.
shareI know what you mean. I actually had a difficult time liking any of the characters. That's just me, though.
shareI was struggling with that the entire time, actually, and while I think he is an interesting character, the film itself kind of lets him down with the incident that occurs with his son and the closing monologue. It's too easy an out for that character that didn't necessarily feel earned.
Though I think that Schoenaerts' performance was amazing. I thought he played just about every moment perfectly.
I think there's been a rape up there!
I think "Rust and Bone" is one of those films were the director takes a neutral stance on the characters and just shows them and their lives as they are, with no true intention of taking sides.
There are moments where Ali and Stephanie are, for a lack of better words major f * * k ups, but as the film progresses, we see more of their humanity and vulnerabilities as they're brought to the surface of things.
Yeah I guess you're right there. I think I just see the way he behaves as overtly wrong rather than just a character flaw, which prevents me from caring whether he has a 'happy ending' or not.
I agree with the previous poster as well though, the performances are mind-blowing in this movie.
@patrick_bateman_77401:
I think "Rust and Bone" is one of those films were the director takes a neutral stance on the characters and just shows them and their lives as they are, with no true intention of taking sides.
There are moments where Ali and Stephanie are, for a lack of better words major f * * k ups, but as the film progresses, we see more of their humanity and vulnerabilities as they're brought to the surface of things.
I think like is a strong word. I think more than anything you're meant to see him through Stephanie's eyes, and he's only really as important as he is to her.
waste of good scotch
I didn't like Ali but I did care for him. I know you write you don't care for him but liking and caring are different and one does not entail the other. Odd though that may seem. I don't think he's meant to be likeable and there are aspects to all the other characters that are unlikeable too.
I loved the way Ali was written and played because it is hard to have a protagonist that is not sympathetic and whose vulnerability barely shows, apart from his melting after nearly losing Sam. The film allows you/me/others to dislike him and still care. That's very freeing as a viewer.
Fatima had a fetish for a wiggle in her scootshare
I wasn't aware this is a book adaption or how true it is to the original therefore I don't know and can't comment on why he had to leave Belgium or take his son when he couldn't even feed him, however, Ali's caring nature first shone when he rummaged through the garbage to feed his son, when he took him out of the dog house to get him cleaned up, when he bought him that toy after getting all ape on him and hurting him, I felt his rage was a reflection of his frustration, he cared for his sister and paid her her dues for taking him in, he was genuinely hurt that she lost her job because of him but was unsure how to compensate her for his shortsightedness, he cried as he left his son when Stephanie was calling him, and he cracked when he blinked an eye and his son almost died...he doesn't mean to be neglectful, I just think he's overwhelmed and I believe his relationship with Stephanie is what made him realize he's not all alone in this clusterfk, that with her shortcomings she's still his confidant and his source of strength, she can help him as much as he could help her, I think that's what the movie tried to relay.
...I wish you love ..
well said. He is not at all a despicable character. After all, he took his son under his wings, away from the biological mother who doesn't care less about him and whose circle of friends I believe was using him in their drug activities. He did care for his son and he did care for Stephanie (he helped her get out of her initial depression) but his character, as we saw, is flawed.
For me, nothing can be more attractive than see a man who actually has emotions of love and care beneath a macho physique and an alpha-male behaviour.
In other words, ok he is an insensitive thug with a heart; but darn it, he is so hot!
He's just a thuggish 'macho' yob who sees no problem in beating up women and children.
Agreed.
The first poster was probably referring to the times when he got angry and frustrated at his son and accidentally shoved him too hard and when his sister slapped him and he pushed the table away as he stood up.
The guy definitely has anger management problems but he's not a monster as some thinks he is. He's just a flawed human being.
He was going to beat up the woman who was videoing him with her cell phone, and what he did with his son was pretty close to beating him up. He was enraged. My own take on it is that the guy's not very nice.
Stephanie was the head, Ali was the body.
I gave it an 8. I didn't really like the movie (although the physical shots of Marion Cotillard were very nice) but I thought it was good, and I want to see it again.
--
GEORGE
And all's fair in love and war?
MRS. BAILEY
[primly] I don't know about war.
The character who thaws from icy, robotic selfishness to humanity is not unusual. What I reckon was different about Ali was his capacity for violence. There's no real clues why he's like that and I agree he was quite repulsive. After the icy pond incident, I felt he became a human realizing for himself that he did care about more than just getting by.
I didn't like him either, but didn't hate him. I think Stephanie liked him in the beginning because he treated her like a normal human being. He probably has good intentions but throughout the film he keeps hurting the people who care most about him by his lack of emotional intelligence. As a viewer its tough to understand. Why didn't he watch his kid when the dogs were taken away, why was he hitting on another woman while Stephanie was there, someone he had an intimate relationship with, why didn't it occur to him that his sister works in a supermarket and may lose her job? The ending gives a bit of hope when he realizes what he might be losing..
shareIt made him more real, how many times do people really look at the bigger picture. I was just talking to someone about that concept today, and this film sums it up. Those cameras, that phone call, he lived very in the moment, and was constantly trying to find a means to an end. There are moments we all experience like that, and if we knew what our actions would result them, we'd play those moments out very differently. The sex scenes with the two or three women sort of solidify how his mind works, it's very now, not later, and yes, he's very macho, and he's a douche-bag, but he's also not educated, and he doesn't know any better. Stephanie definitely likes him because he doesn't treat her any different just because of her accident, she strikes me as a very bright person so she instantly scopes out his personality when he came by and that's why she calls him. I think he's so not bright, that in a way, it makes him treat her like a human being because he just doesn't know any better. He doesn't think. We see time and time again, people thinking and hesitating, he doesn't do that. The guy at the bar, looks at her leg, and he says, he couldn't have known because he is trying to be polite, but Ali wouldn't think that deeply about anything. I think matthias schoenaerts conveys a lot of vulnerability but they are like flashes across his eyes just like those moments of pure animal anger that flash before his eyes before he takes a swing. There are so many subtle moments the actors have, such a beautiful film. He's such an amazing character. I can't help but like him a lot. I can't speak french well and I wish I didn't have that language barrier because I heard there a lot of nuances in the language that the subtitles just don't catch.
shareI had the same problem. I didn't care for Ali at all and I felt bad for Stephanie having to settle for him. On the other hand, it did make the film feel different than others.
I'm torn.
*I will take what is mine with fire and blood.*
he was visceral.
he was physical.
and she enjoyed watching his body.
she enjoyed interacting with him because as noted above he was "in the moment".
very very much like her interaction with the orcas........
she bonds with him as she bonded with the orcas.
in doing so she can leave her past behind and begin anew.
my thoughts after seeing the film this afternoon.....
and it is possible that he found in her someone he trusts to look out for his best interests and someone he can be real with. he finds strength in her presence when he's being beat senseless in one fight. he asks that she be his "manager". i get the sense that there are not many....if any....he has trusted in his life.
Why aren't we supposed to like Ali? I liked and cared for him from the beginning. I found him very loveable.
share