20/05/2009

“When the Dardenne brothers are in competition at Cannes, it’s a bit like when Germany competes at football. Everybody takes part but in the end it’s the Dardenne brothers who win.” This is how Thierry Frémaux, delegate general of the Cannes Film Festival, introduced the cinema lesson this Tuesday.

From the outset, the two brothers lay claim to their self-taught status. While one studied philosophy, the other dreamed of becoming an actor, convinced that adult life would be more enjoyable spent working in theatre or film. A decisive encounter with Armand Gatti led the two brothers to turn their attention to cinema once and for all.

Although their two debut films were “early failures”, in the words of Luc Dardenne, their talent was discovered with The Promise, which screened in the Directors’ Fortnight in 1996. The Promise was also the first fruit in a rich filmography.

On the set of this film, their working method and principles took shape. These involve not getting carried away with the technical side and devoting a lot of time to rehearsing with the actors before shooting. By choosing unknown actors, fresh bodies who are neither performers nor characters, they catapult “ordinary” people onto the big screen in an act of pure instantaneousness. We do not experience the characters’ psychologies or pasts, we live intensely in their present.

Everything is calculated so that the “setting up” is invisible. Another fundamental discovery is that the greatest luxury on a film set is time. Michel Ciment, who presented the lesson, pointed out that although many have copied the Dardennes’ form, most have neglected the content, and the incredible dramatic tension that runs through the brothers’ films.

The brothers co-direct and refuse to work with a third collaborator, as this would disturb their harmony. For in the end, the Dardenne brothers are a two-headed director, “two shameful usurpers”, who find their salvation in their duo; two “half filmmakers” who make up a homogeneous whole.

(Translated from French)