L'Infant is the deserving winner of several awards, including the prestigious Palm d'Or at Cannes. The directors manage to achieve an engrossing simple, and tragic story which weaves several coming-of-age themes together without sacrificing a second of realism. Although the two leads are equally important to the development of the film, the action follows Bruno (Jeremie Reinier), a troubled, unstable, young man who lives at the fringes of society stealing and fencing with the help of a couple of young kids. Before the action of the film begins, Sonja (Deborah Francois), a young working class girl trying to make a life for herself, has fallen in love with Bruno and had a son with him. In the first few minutes of the film, she is carrying the infant through the streets of Seraing searching for Bruno, whose only method of contact, his cell phone, has run out of credit. When the couple are united, Bruno seems cheery and hopeful, but it is his love for Sonja that we are seeing here, and this love, though genuine, is the immature love of a man whose emotional growth has been stunted by the choices he habitually makes. Throughout most of the rest of the film, we are privy to several examples of these choices, and Bruno is placed in a position where he must either lose all hope and self-respect or commit himself to recognize his own responsibility (i.e. grow up), while the immediate prospects of doing either are unpleasant.
The film explores a number of important issues very sympathetically and yet with merciless realism. The film does not even distract its audience with a soundtrack. What is being said in the film is too important to waste on mere entertainment. L'infant is politically libertarian - emphasizing the importance of taking responsibility for one's actions. Attached to this painfully examined central theme are more familiar and obvious issues of adulthood, morality, love, romance, fatherhood, and survival.
The directing and script are flawless. The acting is superb - especially the two leads. You will instantly fall in love with Sonja, and as despicable as he is, it is hard to avoid feeling the same for Jeremie. And these two young actors accomplish this without a soundtrack, excessive editing, or a lot of fancy camera work. Bravo! As art, L'Infant is as straight-forward as you can get. It is unpretentiously filmed in a documentary style, with the camera sometimes getting uncomfortably close to the action in order to highlight the emotional impact of the performances. The camera work is subtle and excellent, but, unlike some of the reviewers, I was aware of the presence of the camera at times. Considering the claustrophobic interior sets, the lack of any form of distraction from the central plot and the hyper-realism of the film, it would be pretty difficult to avoid this completely.
As many others have said, this is an art film. However, its pace is consistent enough and its cinematography subtle enough to make it accessible for standard film audiences. This might be a good way to introduce an open-minded friend to true independent (as opposed to "Indie") and non-Hollywood film.
The film explores a number of important issues very sympathetically and yet with merciless realism. The film does not even distract its audience with a soundtrack. What is being said in the film is too important to waste on mere entertainment. L'infant is politically libertarian - emphasizing the importance of taking responsibility for one's actions. Attached to this painfully examined central theme are more familiar and obvious issues of adulthood, morality, love, romance, fatherhood, and survival.
The directing and script are flawless. The acting is superb - especially the two leads. You will instantly fall in love with Sonja, and as despicable as he is, it is hard to avoid feeling the same for Jeremie. And these two young actors accomplish this without a soundtrack, excessive editing, or a lot of fancy camera work. Bravo! As art, L'Infant is as straight-forward as you can get. It is unpretentiously filmed in a documentary style, with the camera sometimes getting uncomfortably close to the action in order to highlight the emotional impact of the performances. The camera work is subtle and excellent, but, unlike some of the reviewers, I was aware of the presence of the camera at times. Considering the claustrophobic interior sets, the lack of any form of distraction from the central plot and the hyper-realism of the film, it would be pretty difficult to avoid this completely.
As many others have said, this is an art film. However, its pace is consistent enough and its cinematography subtle enough to make it accessible for standard film audiences. This might be a good way to introduce an open-minded friend to true independent (as opposed to "Indie") and non-Hollywood film.