Review of Rust and Bone (2012) by Justin V — 18 Mar 2013

For writer-director Jacques Audiard, Rust and Bone is a strong follow up to his rousing A Prophet. Continuing his fine observation on character study, Rust and Bone focuses on two damaged souls in Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) and Stéphanie (Marion Cotillard). Ali is a newly single father who moves in with his sister and her husband to begin a new life with his five-year old son, Sam. He dreams of becoming a kickboxing champion as his passion to defeat and maim others is a crucial part of his personality. Ali is broke and tries to make ends meet as a bouncer. Further along the viewer sees the type of person Alain truly is: brutally honest, yet incapable of discerning and conveying his own emotions. He has a big heart but it's misplaced thanks to his neglect for Sam and his reliance on his sister to care for his boy.

Stéphanie trains orcas at a tourist marina. Her life is seemingly well-off, but her personal life is less than desirable. While at work she suffers a major accident that changes her entire life. It's at this point that Stéphanie reaches out to Ali and they begin a blurry relationship. Ali and Stéphanie met only one time when he saved her during a fight at a club. Somehow, without anyone there to support her, Stéphanie's desperation leads her to contact Ali, and their acceptance of each other allows Stéphanie to rekindle her will to live. And amazingly, Stéphanie is able to discover a softness in Ali that he rarely displays.

Rust and Bone isn't conventional in its storytelling. It is an open book of how fractured people interact to poor circumstances and with each other. Ali, with his rugged persona, shirks his responsibilities as a father and fails to acknowledge his feelings for Stéphanie (despite a growing closeness). At the same time, Stéphanie feels there is nothing to live for as she slowly recovers from her accident.

Whether or not it's reciprocated, the time they spend together allows both to grow as individuals and as a couple. Cotillard and Schoenaerts are brilliant and without them this feature could've easily been lost on the audience. But they, along with some interesting cinematography and well-chosen music, allow for an accessible and fairly emotional film. JV.