After his 2008 contemporary masterpiece A Prophet, director Jacques Audiard follows up with another beautifully potent drama. Rust and Bone is a spellbinding story, both brutal and romantic, that captivates from first to last shot.
There was an acute sense of realism that accompanied Audiard’s A Prophet that set it apart from any other gangster film in recent memory. We were plunged into a criminal underworld, gasping in wonder at its perfectly measured construction. And now the formidable director has once again displayed a mastery of tone in another film of great vision and craft.
The dishevelled Ali (Mattias Schoenaerts) wanders a road in the South of France with his 5 year old son (Armand Verdue) lumbering behind him. Photographed with chilling realism, and supported by the melancholic soundscape of a Bon Iver lament, the scene renders a heartfelt view of our modern times that has been so ravaged by economic decline. Exuding masculinity but with a quietly tender heart, Ali arrives at the doorstep of his long-lost sister (Corinne Masiero) to seek a fresh start. After finding work as a bouncer in a local nightclub, he drives home the striking but unhinged Stéphanie (Marion Cotillard) after she had been left bloodied by an altercation. Romance does not blossom but breeds from disaster. Stéphanie, who trains orcas at the Marineland Park, is horrifically injured as one of the colossal beasts hurdles from its confinement during a show. In an intensely dramatic and affecting scene she wakes from her coma, all alone in a hospital, to find that both her legs have been amputated.
The pair hide their desperation – Stéphanie’s battle to come to terms with her ailment while Ali, who is forced to take part in savage bare-knuckle fights for extra money, struggles to provide for his son. Their circumstance appears to draw them together but their love contrives to pull them apart.
Through all the drama there is an abstract feeling that permeates through the story. Following Stéphanie’s mishap at the nightclub a telling shot of blood smeared across her legs foregrounds her destiny. No matter how hard they try to determine their paths, Ali and Stéphanie appear to be brought together by crises.
Audiard weaves inventive montages through the scenes of realism; in particular the ones of the orcas – conversely elegant and barbarous – swirling and leaping in their captivity are of added significance. Throughout these imaginative sequences, where washes of bubbles and froth cascade through a vibrant blue, you cannot help but think that Ali and Stéphanie’s romance echoes the plight of the caged animal – detained but willing to break free.
Multi-layered and absorbing, Rust and Bone is a unique, nuanced and powerful work from a filmmaker at the peak of his powers. Schoenarts and Cotillard are astounding too. One of the films of the year.
Director: Jacques Audiard
Stars: Matthias Schoenaerts, Marion Cotillard, Armand Verdure, Corinne Masiero, Bouli Lanners
Running time: 120min
Country: France/Belgium
Language : French w/ English subtitles
Film Rating: 
