“L’Enfant” is a French film that had a decidedly English feel to it. The characters and the townscape were oddly English in nature. This doesn’t really affect the movie, just an odd component to it.
Jeremie Renier plays Bruno and Deborah Francois plays Sonia. They are a dysfunctional couple who depend more upon theft and begging to survive than any sort of real work. The description of the movie says they use Sonia’s unemployment payments as well, but I never saw any evidence of this in the movie itself. Yet, she does wait in line for something and I assume that’s what it is. When Sonia gets out of the hospital from having their baby, someone is in her apartment. She quickly finds out Bruno had sub-let it for money and they are suddenly living on the street until the sub-let ends.
Sonia loves Bruno despite all his faults and really she has no desire to work either, so they seem to make a good pair. However, after the baby, it doesn’t take long for her to realize it will never work with him. He does things that not only disturb her, but also hurt the baby, so she throws him out.
The story really never gets developed, even though there is a lot here with which to work. I thought the acting was really well done, yet the writers continually let the actors down. Plot and dialogue are cut short. It really made me want to know more about the characters. Unfortunately even the ending seemed abrupt and not well thought out. I’d say this is a decent rental if you’re in the mood for a foreign film.
Acting – A-
Director – B
Writing – C+
Cinematography – B
Overall, I give this movie a B.
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