Surrealist styles elevate French romance

Sometimes films that employ hyper-realism speak louder truths about life than any purely realist work.

This is the case with Jacques Audiard’s newest drama, Rust and Bone. A precise mix of surrealism and genuine narrative intensifies every moment of the film, amplifying its emotional effectiveness.

Foreign forte · Rust and Bone, directed by Jacques Audiard, employs an unusual plot structure to weave a tragic but redemptive love story. Strong acting, stunning imagery and an enchanting musical score carry the film. – | Photo by Roger Arpajou, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classic

The plot of this French and Belgian film, loosely based on Craig Davidson’s short story collection of the same name, breaks quite strongly from romantic tradition. Audiard writes the film in such a way that the romance avoids the cliches of onscreen love.

The title characters, Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) and Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts), meet each other one ordinary night after an altercation at a nightclub. After this brief encounter, the two separate, each struggling to overcome the hardships weighing down their own lives. Though fighting for emotional survival, Stephanie and Ali meet again and find strength in their unlikely bond amid harrowing endeavors.

Audiard and his screenwriting partner, Thomas Bidegain, present a vivid definition of Ali within the very first minutes of film; the audience soon recognizes he is horribly selfish and a terrible guardian to his new responsibility, a young son. The writing pair prescribes a similarly detailed characterization to Stephanie, illustrating her character as care-free and provocative. Following a catastrophe that causes the loss of both her legs, Stephanie attempts to piece together the fragments of her previous lifestyle through a fascinating progression of personal triumph. Ali, on the other hand, experiences a growth and improvement of personality rather than a return to normalcy. The parallel narration of these two character arcs compels the audience, engrossing them in a visceral emotional experience often absent in theaters today.

Excellent performances from both lead actors further ground Audiard’s melodrama. Each provides incredibly real and intricate portrayals despite having no literary background information to draw from (surprisingly their two characters were never featured in the Davidson collection). The two European-born actors play off each other’s dialogue and actions almost flawlessly, and also communicate to the audience a deep understanding of their counterpart through emotive facial expressions and body language.

Cotillard especially infuses Stephanie with an unvarnished emotion and deep complexity that reveals her character’s adversity. Her performance remains transcendent, more truthful than cinematic, and Cotillard again demonstrates that she is one of premier actresses working today.

Likewise, Schoenaerts delivers the character of Ali with a very keen precision. He’s nasty and selfish, yet Schoenaerts consistently alludes to his character’s slight capacity for care and kindness.

Though a marvel of brilliant acting, Rust and Bone is a visual pleasure, as well. Paired with a superb score by Alexandre Desplat are arresting expressionist visuals, every frame a piece of crisp, visible poetry that sharpens any emotional cue.

Rust and Bone’s most obvious fault, ironically, lies in one of its most favorable traits: the complex, untraditional storyline. For the most part, the incoherence is a positive attribute, adding to the stylized, more true-to-life portrayal of love. Nevertheless, it seems the filmmakers might have been a little too self-indulgent, veering the story into unnecessary subplots. Still, though, the transition between the ambiguous latter acts is improperly handled, the ending is heart-wrenching, concluding the film in a monumental manner.

Director Jacques Audiard’s follow-up to the Oscar-nominated A Prophet is an enthralling departure from the traditional Hollywood romance. Built upon fierce performances, an acute musical sense and striking imagery, Rust and Bone holds its own as one of this year’s best foreign films.