MovieChat Forums > Deux jours, une nuit (2014) Discussion > The food they ate

The food they ate

posted 8 years ago by gra05
5 replies | jump to latest

For a family that is terrified about losing money, it seemed they were always eating and eating well. Everyone was thin and I understand that Europeans are in better shape than Americans, but there was one evening where the dad made everyone their own pizza and placed them whole on each plate. That in itself was odd. I am not judging the family. I have been out of work and while I wouldn't go out and buy tv screens or anything I still think it is important to enjoy life and be positive and if that means eating good food or going to see a friend then more power to you. I am just making the observation that by looking at their house and lifestyle it didn't seem like they would be that bad off getting by on the dad's salary until she found a job. If the movie wanted to make her situation seem more direct they would have done things differently.

[–] ghtx 8 years ago

I agree with you and I had that same reaction as I was watching.

But, I think that this movie was making poverty more realistic by portraying it this way. The fact is that most poor people in Europe (and in the US) have enough money to get by day-to-day for things like food and occasionally bottled water. What they don't have is enough money for things like the rent, mortgage, etc. In other countries (e.g. poor, developing countries) poverty takes a different form, and there are people who very much can't afford their next meal.

I think this made the story both more realistic and more relatable, since it wasn't a story about her scrounging for her next meal. Instead, it was about her fighting to keep her job.

[–] solemcirkle 8 years ago

Are you from the US? It might be a cultural difference, I am from Northen France where the situation is very close to the obe describe in the movie and I can tell you that the movie is very realistic. They are not extremely poor, they booth work, they are working class but loosing a salary would turn them into poverty. I don't see how having a pizza on a plate for everyone seems off for you? A pizza is a normal eating size, pizza are way smaller than in the us. Bottle water is the common water you drink in France or Belgium, nothing fancy about that

[–] desertrose0601-690-503760 8 years ago

The one pizza for the adults is the size a family would normally eat in the US. That's what the OP meant about it seeming odd.

[–] Keely 8 years ago

It really isn't that different in the U.S. The fast food places are frequented mostly by lower income people. So many people don't realize how much cheaper and more nutritional it is to cook a pot of rice & beans at home. And advertising sure doesn't support things like that.

[–] spaceman88 8 years ago

I grew up and lived in Eastern Europe, but for the last five years I'm living in Belgium.

The cultural and economical differences are great, at it all ends up being a matter of perspective. There, my parents and I were eagerly waiting each month for the minimum wage payday, only for the joy to last a few days. We never could save a penny.

But here, in Belgium, even if jobless and without savings, I feel "poor" in comparison to middle class citizens here, yet still be able to pay my rent, practise my photography hobby and even buy the ocasional Bluray disc, once in a while, for several months untill finding another job.

It's a matter of perspective. And once you have a certain living standard, it really hurts having to take a few steps back and give up things that are essential in your daily life, even if only spiritually essential.

Even when others mock millionaires for complaining about finances, you need to consider their point of view, fears and living standards.

Some have it all and fall all the way to the bottom simply because they can't cope with giving into mediocrity.