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The Times & The Sunday Times
The Times & The Sunday Times
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The Child (L’Enfant)

The Times
The Times

Directors: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, 15, 2005

Stars: Jérémie Renier, Déborah François

Out to buy on DVD

The latest slice of Loachian drama from the Dardenne brothers charts a bleak chapter in the life of two young parents in a decaying Belgian industrial town. For Sonia (François), the birth of their son heralds a new familial solidarity. For her larcenous boyfriend Bruno (Renier), little Jimmy is a passport to a fistful of euros.

The film has a messy vérité authenticity which, the Dardennes explain in the extras, was informed by their documentary background. But, tremendous as the performances are, it is hard to summon up even a shred of sympathy for the supremely unscrupulous Bruno.

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DVD Extras

Interview, biographies, trailer

ED POTTON