Dardennes’ latest lacks emotional punch. “The Unknown Girl” is written and directed by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne. It stars Adèle Haenel, Olivier Bonnaud, Yannick Renier, Louka Minnelli, Christelle Cornil, and Nadège Ouedraogo.
Since arriving on the scene in the late ‘70s, French duo Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne have gained a great deal of notoriety and acclaim in the world of international cinema. They are favorites of the Cannes Film Festival, where they have won the Palme D’or, the festival’s highest award, twice (a feat only accomplished by seven others). Their latest film, The Unknown Girl, however, was met with a relatively muted reception, as opposed to the more typical rapturous acclaim. I have never been particularly enthusiastic about their work, but was very impressed with their last film, Two Days, One Night (it’s on Netflix, check it out).
I went into The Unknown Girl with no real expectations one way or the other. What I found was something that was very much a Dardenne brothers film formally, but that failed to grab me emotionally in any real way. The film concerns Jenny Davin (Haenel), a young doctor, beloved by her patients and colleagues alike. One night, after Jenny chastises her intern (Bonnaud) for his lack of professionalism, a young woman knocks on the door of the doctor’s office, begging for assistance. Jenny turns her down, as they are closing for the night. The next day, she is found dead. Wracked with guilt, Jenny makes it her mission to find out what happened.
The Dardennes’ films are extremely simple. They are understated in tone, foregoing musical scores or flashy camera work. They construct a straightforward scenario involving a handle of characters and observe it until a conclusion is reached. In their films, performance is king. They have commented on their lengthy rehearsal schedules, and the way they shoot and edit scenes is designed to give their actors room to work, with little intervention. A Dardenne brothers film will often consist of a series of interactions, each constituting a scene. These scenes are shot in long, unbroken shots, often with handheld cameras. This lends their films a feeling of intimate immediacy. We feel like we are in the room with the characters, witnessing it all firsthand. There is one scene in The Unknown Girl where this is all done successfully. It comes towards the end, functioning as the climax. The performances are the most intense they ever get, and everything is just working cinematically.
This one scene cannot save the film, however, which is largely listless and dry. What makes Two Days, One Night or The Kid with a Bike work, are the crystal clear emotional stakes. In The Unknown Girl, we never get enough of an understanding of Jenny to understand just why pursuing the truth is so important to her. Jenny feels unknowable and distant. I was never invested in her story. This is by no means the fault of Adèle Haenel, who gives an understated, convincing performance, with several subtle, lovely moments along the way. Yannick Renier is also worth mentioning, providing the film with some of its most searing, impactful moments.
Everything in the set-up here has the potential for a good story. The central theme, responsibility, is a timeless one, and well worth exploring. The Unknown Girl never seems to make any kind of definitive statement about it though, aside from general approval. Fans of the Dardennes’ may love what this film has to offer. To a more casual viewer, like myself, this might not be the case.
We screened the film at New York Film Festival.
-Anthony Calamunci
