Latest news with #LucDardenne
eNCA
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- eNCA
'Outstanding' Dardenne brothers teenage mothers movie has Cannes in tears
CANNES - Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, whose inspiring new film "Young Mothers" won the best screenplay prize at Cannes on Saturday, said they wanted to show young women defying the fate that was forced on them. Set at a shelter for underage mothers, it follows five teenagers as they learn to look after their babies with the help of kind nurses and social workers. The film shows how each of them frees "themselves from a destiny... that has been imposed on them, and the journey they have to go on to free themselves of this fate that has been chasing them since childhood," Jean-Pierre Dardenne told AFP. The brothers, already two-time Palme d'Or winners, visited a similar shelter as part of research for another film. "It's really the place that made us decide to make this film," Jean-Pierre Dardenne said before its premiere in Cannes on Friday. AFP | Miguel MEDINA "When I say place, it's also the young women, the educators, the psychologist, the director who drew us in, what was happening there, what we felt," he added. "It's as if the place, these people, said: 'Tell our stories.'" The film has received rave reviews, and on Friday also won the unofficial Positive Cinema Prize for the most upbeat film in the main competition. The Guardian newspaper called it "quietly outstanding" and gave it a rare five-star review, while Variety called it "the duo's most convincing film yet". In the movie, Naima leaves the shelter to start life as a single mother. But Julie, a former addict, is still struggling to find her feet, while heavily pregnant Jessica is desperately trying to renew ties with the woman who gave her up as a teenager. Perla and Ariane are striving to become better examples to their babies than their own alcoholic mothers. - 'Babies just do their thing' - "They are individual destinies," said Luc Dardenne. "What we were interested in was to tell the stories of five people going through five different things, even if of course it's always linked to a relationship with a child." The film "looks at how social history, poverty, the fact that your own mother abandoned you, weighs down on each character... and how to fight this," he said. AFP | Antonin THUILLIER The brothers said filming most scenes with real babies had forced them to work differently. "Babies don't know that they're being filmed. So babies just do their thing," said Luc Dardenne. "So we said to ourselves that we would try to have one take, just one take, and be happy with it. Sometimes we had to do two takes," he said. "I must admit that the takes weren't the same thanks to the babies, which gave a different pace to the film." Asked how they felt about reducing even the most hardened critics to tears at the screening, Jean-Pierre said, "Perhaps it's because one day we were all babies." - A 'voice to the voiceless' - The brothers have created their own brand of cinema, telling stories of the poorest and most disadvantaged without pity or pathos. The Belgians won the first of their Palme d'Ors in 1999 with "Rosetta", starring Emilie Dequenne, one of many extraordinary non-professional actors they discovered. She died in March, tragically young at 43, after carving out a career as one of the most distinctive faces of French-language film. AFP | Julie SEBADELHA The brothers, who began making documentaries in the late 1970s, rarely stray far from their hometown of Liege for their films. The region has long been plagued with poverty and joblessness, and both say they try to give a "voice to the voiceless". The authenticity of their stories has long been their trademark, with the latest tender babies-having-babies tale feeling so realistic that many critics said it felt like a documentary. The Dardennes won their second Palme d'Or in 2005 with "The Child", taking the second prize Grand Prix in 2011 with "The Kid with a Bike", which was nominated for a Golden Globe. by Raphaelle Peltier and Alice Hackman
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cannes Gives Warm Welcome to Dardennes and ‘Young Mother's Home'
In what has become a familiar sight on the Croisette, Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne strolled up the red carpet to present their new film to a welcoming crowd. The Dardennes' latest, The Young Mother's Home premiered early Friday evening, marking the brothers' ninth entry in Cannes competition. The Dardennes almost never leave Cannes empty-handed. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Resurrection' Review: Director Bi Gan's Beguiling, Beautifully Realized Journey Through the Life, Death and Possible Rebirth of Cinema 'Woman and Child' Review: An Unwieldy Iranian Melodrama Sustained by Great Performances and a Gifted Young Director Cate Blanchett, Afghan, Syrian Creators on Fund for Displaced Directors Backing "Surprising Narratives" Casual with suits and no ties (the early afternoon screenings are not mandatory black-tie), the Dardennes strolled up to the premiere accompanied by their somewhat more excited (and better dressed) young stars: Lucie Laruelle, Babette Verbeek, Elsa Houben, Janaïna Halloy Fokan and Samia Hilmi. Warm, enthusiastic applause rolled over the auditorium in waves as the film credits rolled, and the Dardennes embraced their co-stars. The young actresses wiped away tears. Laruelle, who plays Perla in the film, was visibly shaking with emotion, before joining her co-stars in a group hug. The film, while containing all of the raw realism the Dardenne's are known for, is also uncharacteristically warm and optimistic, touches that left the Cannes audience smiling on their way to the exits. French director Luc Besson and Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont (Closer) were also at the premiere. Twice the Dardennes have gone home with the Palme d'Or — for Rosetta (1999) and L'Enfant (2005) — and their festival trophy case includes best director honors for Young Ahmed (2019), the Grand Jury Prize for The Kid With a Bike (2011), best screenplay for Lorna's Silence (2008), and, for Tori and Lokita in 2022, a special prize honoring Cannes' 75th anniversary. The Young Mother's Home is another slice of Belgian social realism from Dardennes. Set in a shelter for young mothers, the film follows five women — Jessica, Perla, Julie, Naïma, and Ariane — as they navigate the challenges of early motherhood while striving for a better future for themselves and their children. The cast features Lucie Laruelle, Babette Verbeek, Elsa Houben, Janaïna Halloy Fokan, and Samia Hilmi, with India Hair portraying a key supporting role. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now "A Nutless Monkey Could Do Your Job": From Abusive to Angst-Ridden, 16 Memorable Studio Exec Portrayals in Film and TV
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Young Mothers' Review: Belgium's Dardenne Brothers Adopt a Wider Focus for Their Most Humane Drama in More Than a Decade
Before turning their attention to ripped-from-reality social justice stories, Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne got their start making short documentaries set in working-class housing projects. They brought that same immersive, observational approach with them to their fiction features, reflected in the long-take handheld camerawork, gritty street-level locations and casting of nonprofessional actors that have become their signature. And yet, it's doubtful that anyone would have mistaken a Dardenne film for a documentary … until now. 'Young Mothers' is the duo's most convincing film yet, owing largely to the way they have widened the focus from one or two characters in crisis — the sort of urgency that drove everything from 'Rosetta' to 'Tori and Lokita' — to a loose choral form. Instead of presenting a single, nail-biting dramatic situation, the Dardennes' no-less-engaging ensemble drama dedicates quality time to a quartet of young women — girls, really — under the care of a maternal assistance home in Liège. Deeply moving but never manipulative, 'Young Mothers' is the brothers' best film in more than a decades, since they tried incorporating movie stars Cécile de France and Marion Cotillard into their world. More from Variety Rai Cinema Celebrates 'Heads or Tails?' at Cannes and Readies for More Hits: 'Cinema Without Audience Doesn't Exist' 'Romería' Director Carla Simón on the Importance of Gender Equity in Filmmaking: Women Are 'Half of the World, We Should Tell Half of the Stories' Cannes Awards Predictions: Who Could Take the Palme d'Or - and Everything Else? Nearly all the faces here are unfamiliar — and every one is entirely persuasive. Reteaming with DP Benoit Dervaux and longtime editor Marie-Hélène Dozo, the siblings structure this latest, slightly unwieldy narrative as a series of more or less equally weighted dramas, interweaving the four cases as best they can (with a fifth example, played by Samia Hilmi, whose farewell party offers a ray of hope toward which the others can strive). The outcome requires a certain amount of multitasking from the audience, as with Michael Apted's 'Up' series or one of Frederick Wiseman's epic institutional portraits, in which every moment matters, but it's hard to say where things are headed exactly: toward tragedy, success or the status quo. Pregnancy is the common thread between these four teens, who otherwise represent very different instances of children bringing children into the world. Jessica (Babette Verbeek) anxiously waits beside a bus stop, hoping to recognize the birth mother who put her up for adoption as an infant. It's not until the steps away from the camera that we see this immature young girl is pregnant herself. She's already picked out the name for her baby, Alba, and swears she'd never abandon her — a commitment to breaking the cycle by someone who desperately craves her own mother's embrace. Ariane (Janaina Halloy Fokan) has practically the opposite problem: Her welfare-dependent single parent Nathalie (Christelle Cornil) pressured her to deliver, promising to help raise the child, but Ariane wants a better life for her baby. Ironically, this girl's maternal instincts are better than her mom's, who dates abusive men and drinks to extreme, and that sense of responsibility is what drives her to seek out a well-to-do foster couple who swear to teach the child music, offering a potential she never had. In most cases, the babies' fathers are completely out of the picture, although two of the home's residents are still negotiating how committed their boyfriends are willing to be. It's implied that Perla (Lucie Laruelle) hoped that having a kid would strengthen her relationship with Robin (Gunter Duret), only to have the peach-fuzz delinquent blow her off as soon as he gets out of juvie, leaving Perla with only a half-sister (Joely Mbundu) to rely on. By contrast, runaways Julie (Elsa Houben) and Dylan (Jef Jacobs) seem relatively stable, but both are former drug users, which poses its own challenges. Spelling out all these challenges surely makes the film sound far more miserable than it is. In fact, compared to the Dardennes' previous few features — and their Palme d'Or-winning masterpiece, 'The Child' — 'Young Mothers' is positively upbeat. The script is full of setbacks, but it's even better stocked with a sense of community, as characters step in to uplift one another. At the group home, the teens take turns preparing meals, and when one of them is overwhelmed or incapable, someone else invariably steps in to help. That's just one small example of the countless ways 'Young Mothers' celebrates an institution where supportive yet firm social workers (played by Adrienne D'Anna, Mathilde Legrand and Hélène Cattelain) are available around the clock to serve as exactly the kind of role models its residents lacked in their own lives. Obviously, Belgium is fortunate to have such a place; most countries don't. A comparable assistance program would surely make a difference in the United States, where pregnant teens no longer have the choice these characters did over whether to abort. Any movie on the subject of teenage pregnancy carries a polemical dimension of some kind, with a number of impactful recent examples — most notably, 'Never Rarely Sometimes Always' and 'Happening' — adopting a distinctly Dardennian style to drive their messages home. It's interesting then to see the Dardennes themselves taking a far more neutral tack, keeping things as open-ended as possible for the maximum range of reactions. The subject of abortion is frequently discussed, but the focus is exclusively fixed on characters who have brought their pregnancies to term. If there's a political statement to be extrapolated here, it's that instead of thinking of young mothers as being responsible for their children, we should start thinking of society as being responsible for its young mothers. Best of Variety The Best Albums of the Decade
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Outstanding' Dardenne brothers teenage mothers movie has Cannes in tears
Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, whose inspiring new film "Young Mothers" is vying for the top prize in Cannes, said they wanted to show young women defying the fate that was forced on them. Set at a shelter for underage mothers, it follows five teenagers as they learn to look after their babies with the help of kind nurses and social workers. The film shows how each of them frees "themselves from a destiny... that has been imposed on them, and the journey they have to go on to free themselves of this fate that has been chasing them since childhood," Jean-Pierre Dardenne told AFP before its premiere in Cannes on Friday. The brothers, already two-time Palme d'Or winners, visited a similar shelter as part of research for another film. "It's really the place that made us decide to make this film," Jean-Pierre Dardenne said. "When I say place, it's also the young women, the educators, the psychologist, the director who drew us in, what was happening there, what we felt," he added. "It's as if the place, these people, said: 'Tell our stories.'" The film has received rave reviews, and on Friday won the unofficial Positive Cinema Prize for the most upbeat film in the main competition. The Guardian newspaper called it "quietly outstanding" and gave it a rare five-star review, while Variety said it could be mistaken for a documentary and called it "the duo's most convincing film yet". In the movie, Naima leaves the shelter to start life as a single mother. But Julie, a former addict, is still struggling to find her feet, while heavily pregnant Jessica is desperately trying to renew ties with the woman who gave her up as a teenager. Perla and Ariane are striving to become better examples to their babies than their own alcoholic mothers. - 'Babies just do their thing' - "They are individual destinies," said Luc Dardenne. "What we were interested in was to tell the stories of five people going through five different things, even if of course it's always linked to a relationship with a child." The film "looks at how social history, poverty, the fact that your own mother abandoned you, weighs down on each character... and how to fight this," he said. The brothers said filming most scenes with real babies had forced them to work differently. "Babies don't know that they're being filmed. So babies just do their thing," said Luc Dardenne. "So we said to ourselves that we would try to have one take, just one take, and be happy with it. Sometimes we had to do two takes," he said. "I must admit that the takes weren't the same thanks to the babies, which gave a different pace to the film." Asked how they felt about reducing even the most hardened critics to tears at the screening, Jean-Pierre said, "Perhaps it's because one day we were all babies." pel-ah/fg/jj
France 24
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- France 24
'Outstanding' Dardenne brothers teenage mothers movie has Cannes in tears
Set at a shelter for underage mothers, it follows five teenagers as they learn to look after their babies with the help of kind nurses and social workers. The film shows how each of them frees "themselves from a destiny... that has been imposed on them, and the journey they have to go on to free themselves of this fate that has been chasing them since childhood," Jean-Pierre Dardenne told AFP before its premiere in Cannes on Friday. The brothers, already two-time Palme d'Or winners, visited a similar shelter as part of research for another film. "It's really the place that made us decide to make this film," Jean-Pierre Dardenne said. "When I say place, it's also the young women, the educators, the psychologist, the director who drew us in, what was happening there, what we felt," he added. "It's as if the place, these people, said: 'Tell our stories.'" The film has received rave reviews, and on Friday won the unofficial Positive Cinema Prize for the most upbeat film in the main competition. The Guardian newspaper called it "quietly outstanding" and gave it a rare five-star review, while Variety said it could be mistaken for a documentary and called it "the duo's most convincing film yet". In the movie, Naima leaves the shelter to start life as a single mother. But Julie, a former addict, is still struggling to find her feet, while heavily pregnant Jessica is desperately trying to renew ties with the woman who gave her up as a teenager. Perla and Ariane are striving to become better examples to their babies than their own alcoholic mothers. 'Babies just do their thing' "They are individual destinies," said Luc Dardenne. "What we were interested in was to tell the stories of five people going through five different things, even if of course it's always linked to a relationship with a child." The film "looks at how social history, poverty, the fact that your own mother abandoned you, weighs down on each character... and how to fight this," he said. The brothers said filming most scenes with real babies had forced them to work differently. "Babies don't know that they're being filmed. So babies just do their thing," said Luc Dardenne. "So we said to ourselves that we would try to have one take, just one take, and be happy with it. Sometimes we had to do two takes," he said. "I must admit that the takes weren't the same thanks to the babies, which gave a different pace to the film." Asked how they felt about reducing even the most hardened critics to tears at the screening, Jean-Pierre said, "Perhaps it's because one day we were all babies." © 2025 AFP
