RUST AND BONE

France, 2012, 122 minutes, Colour.
Marion Cottilard, Mathias Schonaerts,
Directed by Jaques Audiard.


French director, Jacques Audiard, has made some very strong dramas, even tough dramas like The Beart My Heart Skipped and Un Prophete. They have made quite an impact on critics and the public alike. So has Rust and Bone.

It is strange how people’s stories change, how they come across one another in unexpected circumstances – and what becomes of them.

We are introduced to Ali and his 5 year old-son, Sam. They are hitchhiking from northern France to the Riviera to stay with his sister and her husband. Ali’s wife has left them, involved in the drug world. Ali is a strong man, a gym man and potential boxer. He gets a job as a bouncer and then as a security guard. He has little sense of responsibility, relying on his sister, especially for Sam whom he loves but does not really know how to express it. At a fight in a nightclub, he comes across Stephanie who takes him home. He gives her his phone number in case she should need it.

We have Stephanie at work in one of the Sea-World? theme parks, training and working with dolphins and their performances. One day, she is suddenly knocked into the water and wakes up in hospital, shocked and asking, ‘what have they done with my legs?’. She is left morose and alone, but one day rings Ali. Their lives change.

Ali, with little sense of commitment, opens her curtains to let in the air, takes her to the beach where she agrees to swim. Exhilarated by the sun and water, she begins to come alive, measured for artificial limbs. Ali is casually friendly, offering to help her discover whether she still can function sexually. All in a day’s visit for Ali, not for Stephanie. In the meantime, Ali is offered backstreet, few holds barred, fights with bets that improve his financial status. Stephanie accompanies him. She also meets the family and relates instantly well with Sam.

Marion Cotillard proves yet again what a fine actress she is. Belgian actor, Mathias Schonaerts, makes Ali a convincing character, even we feel exasperated with him.

The storyline is fairly simple with a necessary crisis which will bring Ali to his senses, especially on an outing with Sam who is injured in an accident. Stephanie is dismayed by Ali’s disappearance but makes another call to the hospital where Ali is waiting for Sam to recover.

1. All the work of the director? Acclaim? The strong cast?

2. A French story/ Belgian? The Mediterranean setting, the French Coast, the city? The contrast with the winter in the north of France? The musical score?

3. The realism of the roads, the lifts, diners and shops, the homes, the not-well-off? The dolphin show? Nightclubs? Hospitals? Warehouses and security? The back street fights?

4. The introduction to Ali, to Sam? Wandering, getting lifts, a story about Sam’s mother and the drug smuggling and passport? Scrounging the food on the train? Hungrily eating? Stealing? Ali and his age, his build, experience, the rapport with his son? Sam at five?

5. Anna and her husband? The husband collecting Ali and Sam? The house, the room, the dogs and Sma’s delight in playing with them, a five year old boy and his playing? Anna and her work? Food from the supermarket? Sam in the kennels, dirty, his father ordering him out, hosing him? Anna defending him? His upset with the dogs being taken away? Ali’s rebuke? Receiving the money from Ali? The final clash, Anna ousting him, the husband giving Sam the lift to see his father?

6. Stephanie, preparing for the dolphin show, her fellow workers, her life, at the club, the fight, with Ali and taking him home, the clash with Simon? His leaving, giving her his phone number?

7. Stephanie, with the dolphins, the rapport, the show, conducting them, the tricks? Her being bumped into the water, the machines, her waking? Falling out of bed? The shock, asking what people had done with her legs? Morose, taking the scalpel? At home, phoning Ali? His coming, opening the curtains, fresh air, taking her out, her agreement to go to the beach, her swimming, the exhilaration of the swim? Giving away her clothes, with her friend?

8. The measuring and testing for the artificial limbs, the exercises, her friend’s help, improvements, her spirit lifting, going to the work place, meeting her friends? Ali and the discussions about sex, her reactions, the experiences, her needing affection, his casual approach, to make an appointment?

9. Stephanie and the visit to the house, meeting Anna, the encounter with Sam, visiting his room, comfortable with everyone?

10. Ali and the clash with Anna, anger, his leaving, complete disappearance? Stephanie visiting the house, seeing the boxes, sadness?

11. Ali in the north, the gym, preparing for the fights, hopes? His son arriving, going out, playing with him, the sled in the snow, the skating, the impact of Sam falling through the ice, Ali searching, in the snow and ice, smashing his hands? Carrying Sam, the hospital, coma, the phone call from Stephanie, staying online, listening to him? Sam awake?

12. The portrait of Sam, five year old, vitality, relationship with his father, happy, harsh, his relationship with people, Anna and her husband, the animals, on the beach, on the sled?

13. The happy and hopeful ending, for each of the main characters?