- Actors: Adèle Haenel, Olivier Bonnaud
- Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
- Disc Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: French
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Region: Region 1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rated: Not Rated
- Studio: MPI Home Video
- DVD Release Date: December 12, 2017
- Run Time: 106 minutes
After testing
the waters of the mainstream by casting movie star Marion Cotillard in their
last film, Two Days, One Night,
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have returned to their roots with The Unknown Girl. But even with a movie star,
the brother filmmaking team has never abandoned their social realism, both in
style and the content of their narratives. This is true of The Unknown Girl, which never feels generic despite existing within
the narrative structure of the mystery genre.
The mystery at
the center of the story involves the death of a young woman, and a local doctor
named Jenny (Adéle Haenel) becomes obsessed with finding the cause when she
discovers that she might have prevented it. After ignoring the door buzzer late
one night, Jenny is informed by the police that this was the victim looking for
help shortly before her untimely demise. Out of guilt for her shirked
responsibilities, Jenny starts her own informal investigation of the events
that led to the death of the unfortunate young woman.
Despite the
added structure of a mystery that must be solved, The Unknown Girl loses some of its power in the repetitious
constraints of this story direction. By the time we receive answers about the
mystery, the question itself has worn somewhat thin, but it is a mistake to
think that this is the only point to the Dardenne’s film. While there is some
enjoyment in the solving of a crime, the true beauty of the film comes in the
character study of Jenny. The manner of professionalism with which she carries
out her practice has resulted in a job opportunity with a larger doctor’s
office, but the events with the deceased girl awaken a forgotten compassion in
the physician.
This is carried out with the
Dardenne’s signature subtlety, expressing more through nuanced performances
than obvious dialogue. Crucial to this process is Haenel, who must carry the
film in nearly every scene of the film, despite rarely being given dialogue
that accurately conveys her character’s struggle. Instead, the film relies on
Jenny’s body mannerism and micro-expressions to convey her internal world the
eventual character arc.
As with many of their films, the
Dardenne’s provide us with a richly developed female protagonist, one as flawed
as she is admirable. Although I was at first skeptical that the young actress
could convincingly play a somewhat seasoned doctor, the instinctual way that
Haenel carries out the tasks of a physician immediately comes off as someone
very familiar with the daily routine of the practice. The role feels lived in
and sincere, in the quiet and uneventful moments even more than the more
dramatic ones. It is a simple film, but that is also where the power in the
filmmaking comes from. What it lacks in grandiose dramatics, The Unknown Girl makes up for in the
believability of its characters and situations.
The DVD has been released without
special features of any kind, which is even more disappointing considering
their last film received the Criterion Collection treatment. Even without the
bells and whistles, however, this is a DVD worth owning for any film fan.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 8.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
Special Features: 0/10
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