Two Days, One Night [2014] – ★★1/2

Two Days, One Night is a critically acclaimed French-language film directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (The Kid with a Bike (2011)). The plot is uncomplicated: Belgium; depressed married mother-of-two Sandra (Marion Cotillard) is having problems at work. The management of her solar-panels-making company proposed to make Sandra redundant if the majority of the staff (9 out of 16 workers) agrees to do so (there will be a secret vote). If the majority votes for Sandra to be made redundant, each of the workers will receive €1000 bonus, but will also be required to work slightly longer hours. In that vein, the film portrays the two days and one night which Sandra spends trying to convince her co-workers to vote in favour of her staying with the company (and against their bonus).

One of the good things about Two Days, One Night is that Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne maintain their focus, and that focus is on the real human interactions as opposed to emphasising sub-plots or sub-characters that could “hijack” the whole film and turn it into something else. Throughout the whole story, all that the main character does is going door-to-door, persuading her co-workers to give up their bonus for her place in the company. Yes, it is simplistic, and yes, it becomes a touch repetitive, but, partly, this is where the charm of the film resides. In addition, there is the magnificent performance from Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose (2007), Rust and Bone (2012)). She carries the movie on her shoulders and all alone, delivering master-class scenes. 

The main weakness of the film is that the background to the story is quite unrealistic, and if we do not believe in the set-up, we do not believe in the story and in the character’s trying so hard to be sympathetic, which is essentially the whole film’s foundation. Apparently, the directors read about one case in a sociology book that only has some semblances to the present film situation, and were also inspired by film 12 Angry Men. But, hey, we are not in a courtroom, and Sandra is not trying to escape some prison, but is simply employed by a company in Belgium. 

Even considering all possible job-search hardships, one has a feeling when watching  this sob story that Sandra does not live in a European country, but in a fantasy world where there are no human rights, no employment law or employee’s rights, no benefits for unemployed or for families which have children, and she interacts with some “sub-human” cynics who are prepared to see their co-worker and friend suffer and get fired than part with their coveted €1000. Besides, Sandra humiliates herself so much in the process of persuading her co-workers to part with their bonus that it seems like this is the only place in the world where she could work, that she would never ever find a new job and she has no devoted husband at all, or no helping hand at hand.

Each time Sandra asks for help from her co-workers, each of them first asks: “How many other workers will be prepared to lose their bonuses for you?” If Sandra lived in some fantasy country or maybe in a country in Africa with no legal regime, and had no husband, but lots of children to feed, maybe one can re-consider her predicament, but who would want to work for a boss who proposes such an inhuman bonus-giving arrangement at work, in the first place? One call to higher authorities and that boss of that solar-panel factory would be the one looking for job all weekend since he is so adamant to undermine his employee’s human dignity by introducing such bizarre “lottery” or voting schemes, ignoring his workers’ rights to be treated fairly and respectfully at work. The result is that all this detracts from the overall drama of the film, making the process of sympathising with Sandra difficult, and the overall story much less heart-breaking.

If one thinks a bit more about it, one would realise the film’s ridiculous premise, and that also means that one would feel much less for Sandra and her troubles, especially for that Sandra in the film who seems to be more concerned with having her next medical drugs’ fix (intentionally overdosing once), than thinking about her children’s future (especially in case of her death). Two Days, One Night is probably worth watching for Marion Cotillard’s supreme performance, but not recommended otherwise.