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Two Days, One Night (2015) Review

Directed by
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

 

           On a Friday afternoon, Sandra is lying in her bed when her cell phone rings.  On the other line is Juliette, her friend and co-worker, who solemnly informs Sandra that she has been fired from her job at the solar panel manufacturing plant where they both work.  But there’s a catch: Sandra wasn’t simply fired by her superiors.  She was voted out by her co-workers, who were given the choice of either choosing to retain Sandra’s job, or each accepting a one-time 1,000-euro bonus.  Nearly all of them chose the bonus.  Sandra and Juliette decide to immediately confront their boss and demand a revote – this time, a blind ballot scheduled for Monday morning.

            That is the set-up for Two Days, One Night, the masterful new film by the Dardenne Brothers (Jean-Pierre and Luc) who, like Robert Bresson, are capable of conveying tremendous emotion and lyricism without the assistance of special effects, music, or eloquent dialogue.  Their subjects are ordinary people, usually employed in blue-collar jobs like industrial plants or factory assembly lines, who face critical moral and ethical decisions in compressed periods of time.  This time, the crucial decision isn’t faced by Sandra, but by her 18 coworkers who each must decide whether to take the money or save Sandra’s job.  Sandra must decide how she will plead her case when she personally pays each of them a visit over the course of the weekend.  Call it 12 Angry Underpaid Men.

            The premise for this story sounds simpler than it actually is.  Sandra (played in a remarkable performance by Marion Cotillard) hasn’t just been missing work – she suffers from manic depression and could possibly be addicted to anti-depressants.  Had her depression been affecting her work in an adverse way?  Why had she been away from work for so long?  Perhaps more importantly, how aware are Sandra’s co-workers and bosses in regard to her mental and emotional instability?  These questions are never fully answered, although we do learn early on that the plant’s foreman Jean-Marc (played in brief appearances by the Dardennes’ favorite actor, Olivier Gourmet) has taken a disliking to her, and opined his fellow employees to accept the bonuses.

            Another complicating factor is Sandra’s family.  She is married to Manu (Fabrizio Rongione), who works as a chef at a local restaurant, and has two pre-adolescent children.  While Manu is a supportive and loyal spouse, it appears that Sandra is the family’s main breadwinner.  If Sandra loses her job, all hell could break loose.  If Sandra keeps her job, her 18 co-workers will be denied the bonuses they were promised, and will be forced to face the scapegoat on a daily basis.  And while Sandra and her family are by no means affluent, they certainly seem better off than many of the plant’s other workers – some of whom have to take second jobs on the weekends or rely on their own spouses for additional income (Juliette’s husband is apparently a successful mechanic, which in the eyes of Jean-Marc and his posse, constitutes hypocrisy when Juliette comes to the aid of Sandra).   

            In the background, the not-so-subtle undercurrent of Two Days, One Night is the ugly specter of capitalism, which at best engenders competition and rivalry between coworkers and at worst, leads to dehumanization, aggression, and the loss of self-worth.  At first, the decision to fire Sandra or preserve the bonuses feels like an unusually cruel and vicious one, but as the movie goes along, it becomes clear that the employees are given little, if any, agency or free will in the day-to-day business of Mitch and Murray Solwal Manufacturing.  Even the term “free will” isn’t really accurate, since Jean-Marc is eager to let his workers know that there will be long-term repercussions for those who don’t take his position.  In this sense, the 16 co-workers who voted for Sandra’s removal are not really to blame, and as she visits with them face to face over the course of the two days in the film, their sympathy for her appears heartfelt and genuine – even the ones who can hardly bear to tell Sandra that unfortunately, they cannot afford to give up their bonus.

There is also an undeniable component of gender discrimination here too.  Had Sandra been a man, would her job have been subjected to the same degree of public scrutiny and cruelty by her superiors?  Is it not true that as a woman, Sandra’s ability to earn a living was judged as less important than that of her male counterparts?  There is a reason that statistically women earn 77 cents to every dollar a man makes (U.S. figures), and that reason is not that women somehow intrinsically deserve less money, or are too submissive to ask for a raise.  The reason is because capitalism is reinforced by male CEOs and male supervisors and predominantly male politicians who believe that corporations can have a say in how policy is shaped, but not women and especially not women who earn low wages.  Some of the most unsettling sequences in Two Days, One Night occur when Sandra enlists the support of her female co-workers, one of whom seems sympathetic at first, but when her husband explodes in rage at the prospect of valuing friendship over monetary gain, she is forced to keep her mouth shut. 

Earlier, I mentioned that capitalism leads to a loss in self-worth, which is another major recurring theme in Two Days, One Night.  Already battling severe depression, Sandra understandably asks the question of whether her life is more important than the 18 others she will be adversely affecting should she keep her job.  When she visits her co-workers, many of them are accompanied by their own young children; in one revealing moment, a father tells his young son to walk home so he does not have to witness him face Sandra and tell her that he cannot lend his support.  The worthlessness is not only felt by Sandra, but by one coworker who is brutally  mauled when he sympathizes with her, and another who breaks down into tears when he painfully admits that he moved away from God and voted for his bonus on Friday. 

Because after all, what is the right thing to do?  Juliette is certainly a close friend of Sandra’s, but for the others who do not know her as well, what difference does one expendable co-worker’s livelihood make (especially when it is explained by Sandra’s boss that during her prolonged absence, the company realized her job was an essentially unnecessary one to fill)?  In a perfect world, the right thing to do would be for Sandra to stand up on a table and hold a “UNION” sign while everyone walks out in solidarity.  But the Dardennes know that such a world does not exist.  The management at Solwal may be completely unscrupulous, but they’re also a byproduct of a larger bureaucratic chain of command systematically suppressing oppositional voices.  Sandra is hardly a model revolutionary – she can barely stay awake for extended periods of time, and is always scrambling to find a quick pair of Zoloft to pop.

There may be an inevitable sense that Two Days, One Night is socialist agitprop – the kind that Georg Dreyman probably would have written for the 25^th anniversary celebration of the GDR.  But somehow, the Dardennes (who themselves must be applauded for rebuffing the lure of the quick Hollywood buck) succeed in positioning the movie less as politically radical and more as a complex character study of a deeply torn individual who, perhaps on the heels of joining the Marxist front, must first determine if her own life is worth advocating for.  Of course, the sordid irony is that in the event of Sandra’s pleas proving successful, her allies will have done nothing but jeopardize their own financial and vocational security in the end.  It’s not unlike Newton’s Third Law, the one about every action having an equal and opposite reaction.  But as the penultimate showdown between Sandra and her boss demonstrates (a showdown where politicking is coolly commended and rewarded), loyalty and self-worth are personal commodities that have no price tag. 

Rating: 4 stars

Look Back in Movies:Adams Top 100 Movies of all time!

This list might be the hardiest thing I have put together, since I started writing this last year.  Lets face it, I definitely haven't seen every movie but these are my favorites!  Also, you might see a movie on this list that I have higher than I did on a yearly top 10.  The reason for that is simple, a movie might be better but not my favorite film!

Movies I haven't seen that might make my list: Citizen Kane, Casablanca, To Kill a Mockingbird,  One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest,  Schindler's List, Singin in the Rain, Enter the Dragon, Gone with the Wind, Raging Bull, North by Northwest,  The Godfather Part 2 or 3, Leaving Las Vegas, or Mr Smith goes to Washington, The Good the Bad and the Ugly  (Just to name a few)

Movies that just missed the cute: Rushmore, Argo, Blade Runner, Black Swan, LOTR: Return of the King, Old Yeller, Drive, Catch Me if you Can, Gone Baby Gone, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

100.

Air Force One

1997

(Wolfgang Peterson)

99.

A League of their Own

1992

(Penny Marshall)

98.

The Last of the Mohicans

1992

(Michael Mann)

97.

Field of Dreams

1989

(Phil Alden Robinson)

96.

007: Goldeneye

1995

(Martin Campbell)

95.

Dances with Wolves

1990

(Kevin Costner)

94.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

1988

(Robert Zemeckis)

93.

Django Unchained

2012

(Quentin Tarantino)

92.

Glengarry Glen Ross

1992

(James Foley)

91.

Clockwork Orange

1971

(Stanley Kubrick)

90.

Lethal Weapon

1987

(Richard Donner)

89.

Frequency

2000

(Gregory Hoblit)

88.

Monster

2003

(Patty Jenkins)

87.

Zero Dark Thirty

2012

(Kathryn Bigelow)

86.

Slumdog Millionaire

2008

(Danny Boyle)

85.

Ghostbusters

1984

(Ivan Reitman)

84.

Thank You for Smoking

2006

(Jason Reitman)

83.

Amelie

2001

(Jean-Pierre Jeunet)

82.

Silver Linings Playbook

2012

(David O. Russel)

81.

Boyhood

2014

(Richard Linklater)

80.

Whiplash

2014

(Damien Chazelle)

79.

Kramer vs Kramer

1979

(Robert Benton)

78.

My Cousin Vinny

1992

(Jonathan Lynn)

77.

Rocky

1976

(John G. Avildsen)

76.
The Big Lebowski
1998
(Joel Coen)

75. 
Boogie Nights
1997
(Paul Thomas Anderson)

74.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
1971
(Mel Stuart)

73.
Ghost World
2001
(Terry Zwigoff)

72.

Black Hawk Down

2001

(Ridley Scott)

71.

Alice in Wonderland

1951

(Clyde Geronimi)

70.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2

2003 & 2004

(Quentin Tarantino)

69.

Life is Beautiful

1998

(Roberto Benigni)

68.

Titanic

1997

(James Cameron)

67.
Boiler Room
2000
(Ben Younger)

66.
The Wolf of Wall Street
2013
(Martin Scorsese)

65.

The Truman Show

1998

(Peter Weir)

64.
Wall-e
2008
(Andrew Stanton)

63.
Aliens
1986
(James Cameron)

62.
Memento
2001
(Christopher Nolan)

61.
The Fugitive
1993
(Andrew Davis)

60.
Alien
1979
(Ridley Scott)

59.
The Sound of Music
1965
(Robert Wise)

58.

Gangs of New York

2002

(Martin Scorsese)

57.
Leon the Professional
1994
(Luc Besson)

56.
Back to the Future
1985
(Robert Zemeckis)

55.
Jaws
1975
(Steven Spielberg)

54.
Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi
1983
(Richard Marquand)

53.
Moneyball
2011
(Bennett Miller)

52.
The Terminator
1984
(James Cameron)

51.
Superbad 
2007
(Greg Mottola)

50.
Knocked Up
2007
(Judd Apatow)

49.
The 40 Year Old Virgin
2005
(Judd Apatow)

48.
Little Miss Sunshine
2006
(Jonathan Dayton)

47.
Battle Royale
2000
(Kinji Fukasaku)

46.
Clerks
1994
(Kevin Smith)

45.
Die Hard
1988
(John McTeirnan)

44.
Snatch
2000
(Guy Ritchie)

43.
Dazed and Confused
1993
(Richard Linklater)

42.
When Harry Met Sally
1989
(Rob Reiner)

41.
Matchstick Men
2003
(Ridley Scott)

40.
Apollo 13
1995
(Ron Howard)

39.
Jurassic Park
1993
(Steve Spielberg)

38.
In Bruges
2008
(Martin McDonagh)

37.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
2005
(Shane Black)

36.
Red Dragon
2002
(Brett Ratner)

35.
The Wizard of Oz
1939
(Victor Fleming)

34.
Reservoir Dogs
1992
(Quentin Tarantino)

33.
The Breakfast Club
1985
(John Hughes)

32.
Toy Story 1-3
1995 1999 2010
(John Lasseter and Lee Unkrich)

31.
Up in the Air 
2009
(Jason Reitman)

30.
Forest Gump
1994
(Robert Zemeckis)

29.
L.A. Confidential
1997
(Curtis Hanson)

28.
Taxi Driver
1976
(Martin Scorsese)

27.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
1977
(George Lucas)

26.
The Wrestler
2008
(Darren Aronfsky)

25.
The Godfather
1972
(Francis Ford Coppola)

24.
The Deer Hunter
1978
(Michael Cimino)

23.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
1981
(Steven Spielberg)

22.

Seven
1995
(David Fincher)

21.
Inglorious Basterds
2009
(Quentin Tarantino)

20.
Psycho
1960
(Alfred Hitchcock)

19.
No Country for Old Men
2007
(Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)

18.
Fargo
1996
(Joel Coen)

17.
Fight Club
1999
(David Fincher)

16.
The Silence of the Lambs
1991
(Jonathan Demme)

15.
The Usual Suspects
1995
(Bryan Singer)

14.
Almost Famous
2000
(Cameron Crowe)

13.
Saving Private Ryan
1998
(Steven Spielberg)

12.
Goodfellas
1990
(Martin Scorsese)

11.
Good Will Hunting
1997
(Gus Van Sant)

10.
Minority Report
2002
(Steven Spielberg)

9.
Pulp Fiction
1994
(Quentin Tarantino)

8.
American Beauty
1999
(Sam Mendes)

7.
The Social Network
2010
(David Fincher)

6.
Sideways
2004
(Alexander Payne)

5.
American History X
1998
(Tony Kaye)

4.
The Dark Knight
2008
(Christopher Nolan)

3.
The Shawshank Redemption
1994
(Frank Darabont)

2.
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
1980
(Irvin Kershner)

1.
The Departed
2006
(Martin Scorsese)

So that's my list!  What are your thoughts?  What did I get wrong and what are the surprises that you seen?  Let me know!  As always continue to keep up to date with all things movies at almostsideways.com

Adam