Every now and again a film comes along that makes you feel everything the characters feel and makes you experience every single moment with them as they experience it. Rust and Bone is very much one of those films. This sense of feeling is primarily owed to the focus in this film on the visual. From the bloodied tooth spinning ominously on the ground to the lonely image of the wheelchair- bound lead actress, this film is nothing if not emotionally demanding. The movie is actually in French, the mother-tongue of lead Marion Cotillard (Inception, The Dark Knight Rise, La Vie en Rose) and far from being an arduous subtitle-reading session the language barrier does not in any way bar enjoyment of the film, in fact it evidences the power of the visuals.
It could be said the main theme of this film is the idea that some of the most beautiful things in life are often also very dangerous. This is portrayed brilliantly through the two main characters Stephanie and Alain. At the start of the film we meet Alain who has obviously fallen on hard times with his son Sam on his shoulders, thumbing a lift. Then Stephanie is introduced looking somewhat worse for wear on a night out. The orca trainer is in love with her job but it quickly becomes clear that outside of work her life is not as fantastic as it seems. On this night out Stephanie crosses paths with Alain who has moved in with his sister and found work as a bouncer. The meeting is brief and it is the sense of reality in this film through the use of random acquaintance which makes it so believable and so powerful. This method of film-making can be compared to the ‘cold, hard facts of life’ presentation of hits like The Fighter, directed by David O. Russell, and The Wrestler, directed by the mighty Darren Aronofsky.
The main event is the horror of the accident suffered by Stephanie whilst leading an orca show. This leaves her waking up in a hospital bed only to discover her legs have been amputated. This is the point where Cotillard comes into her Oscar-winning own showing her true acting credentials to deliver what is arguably the best dramatic scene of the film. This is not to overlook Schoenaerts (Bullhead, Black Book) who plays the angry, complicated and struggling Alain with so much depth of character the scenes involving the two are incredibly intense. Young actor Armand Verdure is also important to mention as his turn as Sam is extremely promising with his character leading to yet another amazingly dramatic scene at a frozen lake which is jaw-droppingly tense.
What director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, The Beat That My Heart Skipped) has done is raise the movie-making bar. It is not often a film of such depth (of characters and emotion), reality and visual effect sweeps across our cinema screens. This movie definitely puts its audience through the emotional-ringer but it’s well worth it. Prepare to alternate between staring wide-eyed and hanging on to the edge of your seat as despite the emotional rollercoaster, Rust and Bone will leave you speechless.
