Review of The Kid with a Bike (2011) by Danijel J — 03 Jan 2012

The Dardennes are to be commended for tackling an extremely unsympathetic character in 'The Kid with a Bike'. Their craftmanship is evident in extracting fine performances from the cast, especially Doret,the boy. Unfortunately, this is the sort of character that is the pestilence of society today - selfish, amoral and totally unworthy of the affection directed towards him. He cheats, lies, steals and bashes people with a baseball bat, all without concern for the consequences. This is the sort of child who has made families and schools a battleground and yes, it's all too easy to cry loss and deprivation as extenuating circumstances, but there are many who survive such deprivation and still retain their human decency.

If the objective was to elicit compassion for this boy, then, for me, the film fails. When he was knocked from the tree by a victim's stone, I felt like applauding. As a social document of the type of deviant that society has spawned, it works only too well.

If viewers have not seen the template for this film, then they should do so - Truffaut's 1959 masterpiece 'The Four Hundred Blows'.