One of the more notable snubs for this year’s Foreign Film Oscar category — the Academy revealing its shortlist just recently — was Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s drama Two Days, One Night.
Starring Marion Cotillard opposite Fabrizio Rongione, the film orbits around a young woman called Sandra who, after discovering that the only way to save her job is to convince her higher-ups to forfeit their bonuses, soon finds herself slipping back towards depression. What compounds the situation, though, is the fact that Sandra relies on the employment as the sole means of providing for her friends and family, thereby setting up one of the most touching and raw performances of the year from Cotillard.
Speaking to The Wrap earlier in the year, the actress touched upon her own experience with depression and how she was able to channel that going into her trying role in the film.
“I came, myself, very close to depression. It didn’t last long, because I have an ability to fight, and I’m a pretty good fighter. I fought with everything I could, because I didn’t want to fall in a deep state of depression. But because I came close, I could feel what it is to lose any sense of taste, to lose your energy, to lose your purpose. And so suddenly I could understand that it’s not that easy. It’s not just, you’re healthy, you’re alive, just move yourself. Sometimes you just cannot do it. So of course, those experiences helped me to understand Sandra and create her.”
And in our glowing review, we discovered that Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s film doesn’t pull any punches, while Cotillard gives a pitch-perfect performance as a woman on the brink.
A staggeringly powerful examination of depression, Two Days, One Night is brimming with the kind of humane sensitivity that you expect from the Dardennes.
Two Days, One Night is due to open today in a limited release, and you can check out the new clip over on The Playlist.
