RUST AND BONE
(De Rouille et D'os)
Release Date: Friday 2 November
Director: Jacques Audiard
Running Time: 120 Minutes
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Armand Verdure, Corinne Masiero
Screening Reviewed: London Film Festival Press Screening
Reviewed by Kyle Pedley
There’s something almost incomparably elegant and elegaic about Jacques Audiard’s exquisite Rust and Bone, a masterclass of subtlety and nuance which crafts an almost bewilderingly authentic portrayal of two aimless souls finding one another amongst the unexpected calamities and drama that life has hurled at them.
Miles apart from his Oscar-nominated 2009 hit A Prophet, Audiard here crafts a tale far less dependent on narrative and incident (the few moments for major spectacle are left unexploited) and rather allows character and a naturalistic study pondering physicality, responsibility and purpose to take front and centre, and the result is one of the most convincing and engagingly human dramas of any language in recent years. That’s not to say it is anything less than a visual treat, for in no way could this be translated to stage, for instance, without losing much of it’s strength, heart and beauty; the cinematography and wonderfully evocative imagery on display throughout lends far too much to the experience. Likewise there are plenty of moments that do shock and amaze, though these are generally born of our investment in the characters and the sheer reality of what we are being shown.
