http://bostonreview.net/BR31.4/stone.html
Has anyone seen these films. Are they as good as they sound? There was a time when I kept good track of such things
__________ "When we first see her (Rosetta) she is in a clothing factory, in a rage because she has lost her job; the police have to be called to control her. We sense the desperation of this girl as she struggles to survive—catching fish in the river Meuse to eat—and come to realize that nothing is more important to her than a decent job and the normal life it promises, both of which are beyond her reach. In her desperation she betrays her only friend, a boy who fancies her, to get his job. Then she promptly loses it to the boss's son. That this girl is angry, depressed, and alone in the world is undeniable. But we see all this from the outside, like watching a tiger pacing in a cage. We may be able to imagine her rage and torment, but we will never understand her consciousness. Rosetta's day-to-day existence is etched in every detail. We see even her physical suffering—is it menstrual cramps?—as she uses a hair dryer to blow warm air on her stomach. One step up from homelessness, she shares a trailer with her alcoholic mother. We watch through Rosetta's despising eyes as her mother trades sex for beer and finally passes out drunk.
"The film, like L'Enfant, has no background music and little dialogue. We never really know what is happening—we have to surmise and put the pieces together in retrospect. Here we watch Rosetta make a satisfying meal of a boiled egg. She lies on her bunk in the trailer as she savors it with a pleasure we have never seen her express before. Then it becomes clear that it is her last meal: she has turned on the gas and is planning to commit suicide and take her drunken mother with her. But the cylinder runs out of gas and Rosetta has to get another one. We see and hear her dragging the cylinder with grim determination across the gravel of the trailer park. Then the boy she betrayed appears on his moped and embraces her as the film ends.
"Rosetta took Cannes by storm, winning the Palme d'Or and best actress for the previously unknown Emilie Dequenne. It may seem strange to suggest that this study of character defies psychological explanation when so much is obvious. One can even imagine a psychiatrist making a diagnosis and prescribing antidepressants. Yet Rosetta's refusal to follow her mother's corrupting example, like the son's decision in La Promesse, is never explained to us in psychological terms. The Dardennes pursue Rosetta with their camera and strip her bare, but they never reveal her inner being. Rosetta is trapped in a dead-end social reality, and we can sympathize with her predicament, we can even empathize with her, but we are not allowed to connect with her completely. She is alone and unknowable. Indeed, it is only in the last moment of the film, when the betrayed and rejected boyfriend comes to her, that we sense a moment of connection and redeeming intimacy. This compelling portrait prompted the Belgian parliament to pass Rosetta's Law, which provided more jobs for young people.
"Le Fils (2002), the Dardennes' next film and perhaps their best work, explores the challenge of forgiveness. The back story that the audience will only belatedly understand involves a couple whose life and marriage are ruined when a teenager steals their car and then kills their only child who happens to be in the back seat. The film begins a few years later when the father, who teaches carpentry, is approached by a social worker who asks him to take on his son's killer as an apprentice. Neither the social worker nor the young man knows who they are asking for this assistance. With a camera that seems to see through the eyes of the carpenter we see the story work its way out to redemption. The jury at Cannes may have been thinking about what they owed Le Fils when they gave the Palme d'Or to L'Enfant last year. L'Enfant is by no means the best of the Dardennes' four celebrated films; in fact, it may be the weakest."