L'Enfant-Theater

L'Enfant (2005) Dir. Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne

I'm not going to say much about this film, except that I really like it. I've now seen it twice, and both times it was a tense and moving experience. Yes, there is no soundtrack, Yes, it is difficult to feel empathic, but get over it and just watch the story. The beautiful thing is that the Dardennes (who sat at the very next table from me at the Carlton as I sipped my 18 Euro Kir Royal after their movie premiered) are not trying to give us a story with a moral or a message or anything as pedantic as all that. They are merely trying to give us a story that is human, without the Lifetime Movie melodrama or the constant jerking of tears. It is a story that is tragic, a bit comic, and completely devoid of seedy manipulation.

Go see it. You'll be better for it.