Rust and Bone or De rouille et d'os in its original
French title is a 2012 melodrama staring Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts.
An unemployed man moves from Belgium
to the south of France
with his five year old son in search of a better life. Finding nothing but
poverty and overly macho, short term jobs he meets a Killer Whale trainer who
has become involved in a fight outside a nightclub he is working at. Months
later she calls him while depressed while she is recovering from a severe
injury sustained while working with the whales. The two strike up a complex
friendship with each helping the other out of the rut they find their lives in.
Rust and Bone features a couple of extremely proficient
performances, some wonderful cinematography, a tough story and excellent
soundtrack but is not an easy watch. There are moments of extreme violence and
heartache which will make the audience recoil in their seat and don’t go in
expecting a traditional French love story because you won’t find it here.
