Blood, sweat, and tears form the life energy of Jacques Audiard's moving, impeccable triumph, Rust and Bone. An unyielding, emotional powerhouse that defies conventionality at every turn, it's a film that seems destined for awards greatness. A mere three years after his Oscar-nominated A Prophet, Audiard evokes another raw performance from Oscar winner Marion Cotillard, and a dominating turn from Bullhead's Matthias Schoenaerts.
Ali(Schoenaerts) is a survivor if nothing else. A tough, physical presence just trying to get by on the streets of Belgium with his young son, Sam, who he whisked away from abusive mother. With not a cent to his name, Ali steals, scavenges, and does whatever he can to put food in their bellies. They find some sense of normalcy with his estranged sister and her truck driver husband, who allow them to live in their ramshackle home, more for Sam's sake than for Ali, who barrels into the place like he owns it.
An ex-boxer and brawler with an imposing physicality, it isn't long before Ali takes up work in security and as a nightclub bouncer. There he meets Stephanie(Cotillard), who has more than her own share of problems, mostly with men. When they meet, she's just had her nose busted by a guy she was leading on, and when Ali drives her home she manipulates him against her current boyfriend. The affection she witholds from people she reserves for animals, specifically the killer whales at her aquarium. A renowned trainer who leads the whales through complicated routines, the water is where she finds comfort. It is her natural element and what makes her whole.
All the more devastating that the one thing she loves is the cause of her greatest tragedy, as an accident causes the loss of her legs and ultimately her will to even be alive. The depths of her anguish in the minutes immediately following are nearly unbearable, and as the months progress we see that the vivacious, confident woman we first met is simply no longer there. A call in the night to Ali in the middle of the night brings him curiously back into her orbit. Perhaps she did it out of loneliness and desperation, or of some fond memory of how stood up for her. Perhaps it's a combination of those and something more, but what forms is an intense, complicated relationship that goes far beyond the physical.
Actually, Stephanie's physical disability doesn't seem to effect Ali at all. He barely recognizes it, and treats her with much the same carelessness he does everyone in his life. His behavior of disregarding most women as merely sexual objects is in grained, and his seeming inability to recognize the emotional needs of others hard-wired from a life in which nothing sticks around for very long. Ali lives in the moment always, whether it's at one of his many dangerous side gigs, his brief sexual relationships, or the brutal bare-knuckle brawls he engages in for money.
But with Stephanie we begin to see the hints of the man he could be. Their chemistry has been apparent from the very beginning, and in his very first visit he breaks her out of her months-long funk and gets her out into the sun-drenched beach. "You will have to carry me", she tells him as she decides to embrace life again and return to the ocean. It invigorates and frees her to become some semblance of the woman she once was.
Remarkably, this all just a fraction of Audiard's incredible story, and the film takes some unexpected twists and turns that never feel less than genuine. It's rare nowadays that we see such an atypical romance such as this with characters quite this well-rounded and fully formed. Stephanie and Ali's bond is tested, strengthened, and occasionally even broken in complex ways. Ali's gruff, sometimes terrifying demeanor keeps any Stephanie mostly at arm's length, while his irresponsibility causes problems that may cost him his son. Stephanie, no stranger to pushing people away herself, begins to lapse into old habits as her self-confidence grows. Audiard fleshes these characters out with real human flaws, wants, and desires, so they are interesting to watch even when apart.
Cotillard is of course her typically amazing self, but this role poses a new challenge which she powers through effortlessly. Mostly limited in her range of movement and confined primarily to a wheelchair or crutches, Cotillard says most of what she has to say through her eyes, or a facial expression. From the deepest of depressions to euphoric heights, Cotillard's performance runs the full gamut of emotions. People will be talking about it for years, and establishes her as the best actress working today. Schoenaerts also seems poised for greatness, revealing the fragility beneath Ali's walled exterior. He makes you feel something for the character, even when he's making choices we know to be foolish.
Not all credit can go to the actors, though, as Audiard again shows why he's one of the world's great directors. If you need any proof of the extent of his powers, just know that you'll never think of Katy Perry's 'Firework' as a frivolous piece of pop music junk again. Not after its touching, life-affirming use in one of the film's finest moments. Audiard keeps the dialogue to the bare minimum, knowing when to step back and let his actors...act. His trust in them shines through in the openness of their performance, allowing the director to focus on the aesthetics. Like mentioned in the beginning, blood, sweat, and tears are the life energy that charges this story, and the most impactful moments involve one or a combination of all three. Even when not every avenue the film takes work, such as an unnecessary storyline involving Ali's hiring as a corporate spy, it's still organic and gorgeously shot.
Rust and Bone is an ascendant, exhilarating tour de force and unquestionably the best movie of the year.
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