The filmmakers let many scenes linger too long but manage to achieve a sense of realism that occasionally packs dramatic punch. A likable -- not lovable -- Child.
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03/23/06
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L'Enfant (2006)
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Reviews Counted:104
Fresh:89
Rotten:15
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: The Dardennes continue to excel at presenting works of rigorous naturalism, with detached observations of authentic characters that nevertheless resonate with complex moral issues.
Theatrical Release:Mar 24, 2006 Limited
Box Office: $420,558
Synopsis: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne present another uncompromising, emotionally devastating depiction of human struggle with THE CHILD. Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival (their... [More]
Starring: Jérémie Rénier, Deborah Francois, Fabrizio Rongione, Olivier Gourmet
Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
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Reviews for L'Enfant
meatier than anything that's likely to be released this year
03/23/06
What interests the Dardennes ... is not only how Bruno became the kind of man who would sell a child as casually as a slab of beef, but also whether a man like this, having committed such a repellent offense, can find redemption.
03/23/06
François gives a marvelously expressive performance as Sonia.
03/23/06
The slyly generic title of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s L’Enfant (The Child) suggests ample room for doubt about who’s the real kid in their new film.
03/23/06
Unlike the great foreign films of old, L'Enfant makes catharsis look easy.
03/22/06
Top CriticL'Enfant is a forceful, impassioned and unsparing triumph from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne.
03/21/06
Top CriticViewers in Europe have swooned, it is said, at this movie’s painful inching toward redemption. Against that, I have to report a slow drip of disappointment.
03/20/06
For all its bleakness, the latest film from the Dardenne brothers offers hope and you'll take away from it how much you have to be thankful for.
03/15/06
An example of how cinema has the power to convince, to move and to compel with the fewest possible material resources.
03/11/06
A gritty fairy tale about repentance that starts out small and gradually grows in power and intensity, as if by magic, until you're feeling as panicked and desperate as its protagonist.
03/10/06
François is heartbreaking in her debut role - here's hoping the Belgian film industry takes note and we see more of her in future.
03/09/06
Bland and predictable.
02/25/06
With Belgian auteurs the Dardenne brothers behind the camera, there are deeper levels to explore in another stark but gripping construction of social realism.
02/22/06
A particularly unlikeable protagonist, the sky-high expectations that come with a Palme d'or and the distinct sensation of "been there, seen that"...
10/27/05
Although it's safe to say that the film is as entertaining as it is distressing, this is bog-standard Dardennes at best, and questionable as a Palme D'or winner.
10/08/05
A rigorously austere masterpiece infused with intense humanism.
09/26/05
There was a lot of grumbling after L'Enfant was screened for critics.
09/24/05
Does not present any convincing evidence that Bruno is either so dense or so uncaring as to be remotely capable of selling his son on a whim
09/23/05
Like Spike Lee's 25th Hour, L'Enfant focuses on the redemption of a sinner, but it's debatable whether L'Enfant really earns its teary finale.
09/21/05
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