Title: Rust and Bone (De rouille et d’os)

Opens: November 23, 2012

In one of Rust and Bone’s most surreal scene, in which some viewers may be reminded of Les yeux Sans visage, Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) wakes up from a deep sleep and finds herself in a hospital bed bathed in a humming blue Neon light above. She feels disoriented, wants to get out of bed, takes the blanket off and finds, to her great horror, that both her legs were amputated below the knees. This is not a dream from which one wakes up and director Jacques Audiard does not spare us any of the trials and tribulations which are to come. Stephanie had been injured during a work-related accident in a marine entertainment park and lost both her legs. After a few months she is fitted with metal legs and is able to walk without physical therapy (this can happen in the movies!).

In a separate strange sequence of events she “meets cute” with Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) and the two become friends against all odds. He is a rough fellow from a working class background while she seems more educated, refined and emotional. He tells here that she is dressed like a prostitute and she does not take it as a compliment. He tells her that he is OP (=operational) and asks her if she wants to have sex. She agrees ONLY if they do not kiss on the mouth. As strange as these events may sound Stephanie and Ali become attached.

Filmed in Liege and Antibes, and photographed in blue and gray tones, this beautiful raw film focuses on its two leading stars with some excellent supporting performances to-boot by Armand Verdure as Ali’s five-year-old son, Sam, Corrine Masiero as Ali’s sister, Anna and Mourad Frarema as Anna’s husband, Foued.

Can a fish become friendly with a bird? I do not think so but Rust and Bone makes us believe that Stephanie and Ali may become an item.

Rated R. 120 minutes © by Tami Smith

Overall – B