THUNDERBIRD RELEASING PRESENTS: RACER AND THE JAILBIRD. (2017) IN CINEMAS TOMORROW. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.

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MATTHIAS SCHOENAERTS STARS IN ALICE WINOCOUR'S 'DISORDER.' (2015) REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.

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JACQUES AUDIARD'S RUST AND BONE. 2012. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.

Rust And Bone DVD Review

Jacques Audiard has fast become one of Europe’s most prominent filmmakers with his previous two features: The Beat That My Heart Skipped and A Prophet. His latest film, Rust and Bone, will surely further boost his reputation and gain the director a wider audience with its crowd pleasing love story starring Academy Award winning actress Marion Cotillard.

The film opens in a style reminiscent of a Dardenne social drama when we’re introduced to Ali, an unemployed ex-boxer, with his five-year-old son in tow, fleeing Belgium for the French Riviera, where he moves in with a sister he hasn’t seen for years. After finding employment as a bouncer at a local nightclub, he has a chance encounter with Stephanie, a whale trainer. After this brief encounter Stephanie loses her legs in a horrific accident at work and the film turns away from its gritty social drama beginnings and becomes a fey and ridiculous love story hinged on the relationship between the two leading characters.

After the accident Ali and Stephanie strike up an unlikely relationship. This is where my problem with the film lies. Rust and Bone becomes forced and overly sentimental in its depiction of the opposing nature of the characters sensibilities. Ali is predictably brutish and Stephanie is predictably frail and it is these characteristics that bring them together. The film is about damaged humans and the animalistic nature of human behaviour but is too predictable and simplistic in its execution to be convincing.

Besides the gimmicky and rather conventional telling of its story, Rust and Bone boasts some beautiful cinematography and outstanding special effects. The scene where Cotillard’s Stephanie swims for the first time after becoming an amputee is a breathtaking example of both the beauty of the films cinematography and its seamless use of special effects. Unfortunately, the visual beauty of the film isn’t enough to elevate the film above its conventional and predictable storyline. By the end the film just feels too fey and insubstantial.

Shane James

★★1/2☆☆

Rating:15
BD/DVD Release Date:25th February 2013 (UK)
Director:  Jacques Audiard
Cast:  Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Armand Verdure
Buy Rust&Bone: Blu-ray / DVD

Bullhead Review

In February 2011 Bullhead, the directing debut of Michaël R. Roskam, was released in Belgian cinemas and enjoyed success with both viewers and critics. Later that year it was selected and lauded by multiple international festivals. The director Roskam appeared on the “Ten directors to watch” list of Variety and it’s rumored that Hollywood is interested in Matthias Schoenaerts, who plays the lead in the film. But all this praise for a rather small Belgian movie pales in comparison to the news released a few days ago. Bullhead has been nominated for the “Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film”. It is in the light of this latest bit of praise that I went to revisit this tale of animals and hormones but above all of one’s humanity.

When you hear the opening monologue of the movie you already sense you’re in for something rather special. Beneath the surface it already hints at the deeper themes of the movie in a profound but delicate way.

You might’ve heard about Schoenaerts who gained 25 kilos of muscle for the role. And while this may sound impressive one might argue that the role of an actor is not (only) one of physical transformation. But transformation is more than physical the movement, the look, the tics but predominantly the eyes. The praise Schoenaerts presentation received is no hyperbole, it is a full and complete character. And quite a meaty one at that.

The movie has excellent pace there is never a dull moment as the story slowly unfolds and brings you deeper and deeper in its ever escalating tragedy. The finale especially is a powerful piece of cinematography, it almost feels hallucinatory, with powerful acting and beautiful camerawork. Speaking of which, the camerawork throughout the whole movie is splendid it doesn’t take the forefront by quick montages and flashes of imagery but just produces powerful images with panning slowly and making great use of depth of field which creates ghostlike visions that suite the overall tone and story rather nicely. The music has the same use keeping a low profile; but still contributing in acquiring that overall powerful emotional feel.

Well after all this praise I have to admit the movie is not without its faults. The gags with the two Walloon mechanics are in the vain of a typical French comedy (be it of a lesser comedic quality) which is indeed an acquired taste. And some might say they feel a bit out of place.

You might’ve noticed I didn’t provide a synopsis of the story as is customary in reviews. I did this for two reasons.What I particularly like about the movie is its deeper underlying story. At first it might seem like a regular cops an gangster movie with some side story, but it is quite a bit more than that. It is a movie which touches on a few difficult themes and an intricate way. It is a story about the border between feeling human and the bestial. What it is like, to not feel normal and the obsessions it creates. And it tells this using a strong, hypnotic narrative, supported by equally strong visuals. A movie with balls, powerful but fragile at the same time.

Lieven Glovers

★★★★1/2

Rating:15
Release Date: 1st February 2013 (UK)
Director:Michaël R. Roskam
Cast:  Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeroen Perceval, Jeanne Dandoy

*This is a reprint of review posted 4th February 2012
T

Studiocanal announce Rust And Bone UK February Home Release

StudioCanal have informed us the award winning and 2 time BAFTA nominated film, Rust And Bone the follow up film to Jacques Audiard's arthouse classic A Prophet. Rust And Bone stars Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts and will be yours to own this February.

Following a theatrical opening to tremendous national and international acclaim, and a Best Film Award at the London Film Festival in October, Jacques Audiard, acclaimed director of A Prophet and The Beat That My Heart Skipped, returns with this powerful drama about two people from very different worlds, seeking redemption in each other.
Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts - Bullhead) dreams of becoming a professional boxer. When he is suddenly put in charge of his five year old son, he moves in with his sister for support. While at his new job as a nightclub bouncer, he meets the beautiful and confident orca trainer, Stephanie (Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard - The Dark Knight Rises, La Vie en Rose). He gives her his number, not expecting that she will ever call. However, after becoming the victim of a tragic and life changing accident, Stephanie surprisingly turns to Ali for support. These lost souls discover new meaning in life together when Ali enters the dangerous world of underground boxing.

Winner of several international awards, Rust And Bone is one of the best and most talked about films of 2012. you can read our cinema review here. With 2 BAFTA nominations, Rust And Bone is up for Best Leading Actress (Marion Cotillard) and Best Film not in the English Language.

DVD & Blu-ray Extras:

- Audio Commentary with Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain and Arnaud Calistri

- Making of Rust and Bone

- The Special Effects of Rust and Bone

- Deleted Scenes

- Trailer

DVD & Blu-ray HMV Exclusive Extras:

- Audio Commentary with Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain and Arnaud Calistri

- Making of Rust and Bone

- The Special Effects of Rust and Bone

- Deleted Scenes

- Trailer

- Exclusive UK Interviews with Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jacques Audiard and Thomas Bidegain

- Exclusive BAFTA Q&A with Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts and Jacques Audiard

Pre-order Rust And Bone: DVD / Blu-ray

Rust And Bone Review

Rust and bone - the very name conjures up rough and ready imagery typical of a Jacques Audiard film. The French auteur’s star has seldom shone so bright following the release of the widely lauded A Prophet forcing the anticipation for this, his follow up, to rocket, only to intensify after early screenings at festivals confirmed its worth. Somewhat of a departure, it’s an incredibly human film, with all our flaws, hopes and problems on show. Above all however, it is our relationships – connections with other humans with their own dreams, worries and needs that take centre stage, flanked by two staggering performances from leads Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts.

Relocated from its American-border setting in the short story source material of the same name, Audiard places us on the south coast of France and the allure of the Cote d’Azour, home to Stephanie (Cotillard); an Orca whale trainer at a local sea life centre whose life is changed irreversibly by two events of vastly varying severity. The first is her chance encounter with the physically imposing Alain (Schoenaerts); a new resident and single father looking to tie down regular employment in a mixture of security jobs trying his hand as a bouncer when his doorman duties collide with the partying Stephanie at local nightclub The Annex. The pair begin a quasi-relationship which only begins in earnest after the horrific accident that befalls Stephanie while working at Marineland, an event that invariably forces a change in lifestyle.

Without becoming reliant on Ali, Stephanie finds in him a companion whose candid approach to life and sex enables her to re-evaluate her own life and values and gently encourages her to start living once again. Eschewing the air-punching, life-affirming delight of other works like the recently released Untouchables, Rust and Bone’s success comes from its tone steeped in almost Dardennes levels of realism and, as you’d expect from an Audiard film, there is little room for sentimentality. At no point are we asked to pity either lead despite their various and very real challenges. Alain’s single father is light-years apart from a Will and Jaden Smith venture, his gruff barks to son Sam coming from frustration and anger as much as love and affection and there’s little sympathy (offered or given) when he struggles to control this anger. It’s an unforgiving role and one newcomer Schoenaerts takes in his stride turning in a wonderfully controlled performance both menacingly fierce and endearingly gentle in equal measure. Not to be outdone, Cotillard turns what had the potential to be a restricted, self-pitying role into one unlike any other. She has the ability to tell whole stories with the smallest gesture or look, conveying a self-conscious vulnerability alongside stubborn desire and seamlessly flicking between the two.

Audiard’s body of work from Read My Lips through The Beat that My Heart Skipped and A Prophet shows a film maker adept in telling crime stories about tough men in tough situations which allows the more personable approach in Rust and Bone to be brought to the fore while avoiding anything remotely Mills and Boon or TV-movie about a story that in lesser hands could have easily turned that way. On more familiar territory he shows flashes of his nuanced approach to violence; the fighting scenes are simultaneously beautiful and barbaric, taking in slow motion visceral beatings and culminating in a solitary tooth, bloodied and spinning on gravel.

That he so effortlessly marries the tender with the terrifying is testament to a director at the very top of his game, elevating the film to more than the some of it’s parts. It becomes neither an out and out romance nor a stripped down brutally macho piece but instead, much like life itself, a mixture of all different aspects that affect these characters and their relationships. An incredibly powerful yet restrained film.
Matthew Walsh

★★★★★

Rating: 15
Release Date: 2nd November 2012 (UK)
Directed By: Jacques Audiard
Cast: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Armand Verdure

Watch The UK Trailer For Rust&Bone (De rouille et d'os)

Studiocanal have released the stunning new UK trailer for Rust & Bone. A new romantic drama from the director of A Prophet Jacques Audiard and starring Oscar award winning actress Marion Cotillard(The Dark Knight Rises).The film also stars Matthias Schoenaerts and tells the story of an unlikely relationship between a couple whose relationship blossom thanks to an unlikely accident.

Jacques Audiard, acclaimed director of A Prophet and The Beat That My Heart Skipped, returns with this powerful, tender romantic drama about two people from very different worlds seeking redemption in each other. Marion Cotillard (La Vie En Rose, Inception) stars as Stephanie, a killer whale trainer who late one night meets Alain (Matthias Schoenaerts, Bullhead) in a fracas at the nightclub where he works as a bouncer. Put in charge of his young son, Alain has come from Belgium to Antibes to live with his sister and her husband as a family. Alain’s bond with Stephanie grows deeper after she suffers a horrible accident, bringing the two together once more.

Since winning her Oscar for La Vie en Rose, Marion Cotillard has certainly excelled herself in Hollywood with some fantastic and at times challenging roles.So it's always refreshing to see and actor return to their homeland and act in their native tongue, Rust & Bone looks potentially another strong film which could see her possibly challenge for Oscar glory once more.Since  Rust & Bone opened away back at Cannes(Audiard missing out on Michael Haneke for the Palme d'Or) it has been lapping up critical praise where ever the film has been been shown and this trailer highlights the beautiful cinematography, heartfelt powerful performances from it's lead pair. If there's one reason to finally check out foreign language films for first time, Rust & Bone may just be that film when it arrives in UK&Ireland November 2nd.

source: MSN