French Film Seen Through the Eyes of a Child
Created: March 17, 2012 Last Updated: March 17, 2012
Thomas Doret and C?cile De France in the drama ?The Kid with a Bike,? a film about a young boy who is abandoned by his father and fostered on the weekends by the town hairdresser. (Christine Plenus/ Sundance Selects)
Cyril Catoul might be a hard kid to love, but his father never really tried the nurture thing. However, a hairdresser might offer the sense of belonging he always lacked, unless he succumbs to the mean circumstances of his environment. Steeped in their familiar working-class milieu, the Dardenne Brothers (Jean-Pierre and Luc) invite viewers to look at the world through the eyes of a child fast losing his innocence and wonder in ?The Kid with a Bike.?
When viewers first meet young Catoul, he is throwing a tantrum of sorts. It is hard to blame him, though. Entrusting the boy to an orphanage for what was supposed to be a short-term basis, his father has apparently disappeared, leaving no forwarding information. In addition to the obvious abandonment issues, Catoul is quite upset over the apparent loss of his bike and the freedom of mobility that it represents.
?The Kid with a Bike,? (Christine Plenus/ Sundance Selects)
Inadvertently walking into the boy?s drama, Samantha buys back his bike from the neighbor his father sold it to. Almost as a dare, he invites her to become his weekend guardian, which she accepts in much the same spirit. Of course, the kid still has a lot of resentment and denial regarding his father, but he begins to trust Samantha. However, a local drug dealer also has his eye on the boy, left highly vulnerable to his overtures by his father?s excuses of dire poverty.
\>");?The Kid with a Bike? is a tough film, but it is also highly compassionate. Despite depicting a tremendous amount of young Catoul?s lashing out, the Brothers Dardenne never condemn him. Viewers, like Samantha, keenly understand the cause of his rage. It is not a fairy tale world, but a typically naturalistic environment from the Dardennes. Nor is Samantha a fairy godmother, which makes her character rather heroic by everyday real-world standards.
As Samantha, C?cile De France (recognizable to American audiences for her turn in Eastwood?s ?Hereafter?) brings a matter-of-fact earthiness to the film that really cements her relationship with her difficult but sympathetic ward. For his part, Thomas Doret?s performance as young Catoul is natural in a good way, convincingly projecting his anger, insecurity, and vulnerability.
The Dardenne Brothers do not let audiences off the hook easily. There is a severe internal logic to the film they scrupulously observe at all times. Yet, it stands as an unusually humane cinematic rendering of humanity, nonetheless. Highly accessible for general mass-market audiences, ?The Kid with a Bike? is strongly recommended when it opens this Friday (March 16) in New York at the IFC Center.Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Cast: Thomas Doret, C?cile De France, J?r?mie Renier
Running Time: 87 minutes
In French with English subtitles
Joe Bendel writes about independent film and lives in New York. To read his most recent articles please visit http://jbspins.blogspot.com
Source: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/arts-entertainment/the-kid-with-a-bike-206672.html
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