Two Days, One Night, written and directed by the Dardenne brothers, is the kind of film seldom made in the United States: a film about the daily lives and difficulties of workers. Sandra is a factory worker in Belgium, just returned to work after a battle with depression, who has been voted out of her job by her fellow sixteen workers when they were offered a bonus if she were made redundant. I have never heard of this happening in the U.S. but I would not be surprised if it has, management always looking to turn workers against each other. The factory in which Sandra works does not seem to be unionized nor is there any reference to labor law in Belgium but even if there were a union it probably could not prevent someone from being fired, as I was for my own union activity. Sandra fights back and convinces the boss to have another vote, especially since the supervisor had talked against her to other workers. Sandra (beautifully played by Marion Cotillard) spends the week-end visiting each of the workers, listening to the financial problems they are having and how much they need the bonus. I know from my own union activity that there is usually less interest in any kind of solidarity than in what a union can do for the individual, and Sandra listens sympathetically. The Dardenne brothers stay close to Sandra, making us a part of her journey, as her children and husband encourage her when she sometimes just feels like giving up. Some of the spouses of the other workers are quite hostile to her. In the end the vote is less important than her pride in having made the effort.
Deux Jours, Une Nuit and the other films by the Dardenne brothers have obviously been influenced, with their low-key style and emphasis on the quotidian, by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman, who died this week. I wrote about her film Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) on July 7, 2014 and it will be shown on Turner Classic Movies on October 27.
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