Cécile de France immerses herself in the world of the Dardenne brothers

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are amongst the most awarded directors in the Festival de Cannes’ history. Le Gamin au vélo, (The Kid with a Bike) is a minimalist story about a father-son relationship, and is their fifth film In Competition. Jérémie Rénier and Olivier Gourmet,  two Dardenne faithfuls, star alongside newcomer, Cécile de France.

Child, son, kid… Parent/child relationships are at the heart of this work by the Dardennes. The child with the bike is Cyril, who is almost 12 years old. An angry boy, Cyril is obsessed by the idea of finding his father, who placed him in a home.  His encounter with Samantha, a hairdresser who allows him to stay at her house weekends, steers him away from violence. We do not know Samantha’s motivations. She is just there, full stop.

The Dardenne brothers wanted a “welcoming and sunny” actress for this role, who could embody both openness and change without recourse to psychology. They thought of Cécile de France, who is also Belgian. It is the first time they have involved a well-known actor/actress, not counting actors that have become well-known through Dardenne films, such as Jérémie Rénier and Olivier Gourmet in La Promesse. Incidentally we find these two Dardenne faifthfuls in Le Gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike), the former as the boy’s father and the second in a smaller role.

Loyal to their methods, the Dardenne brothers wrote the screenplay in a year. They rehearsed for a month and a half with the actors in order to “break” their habits and get them into their roles, “automatically, not mechanically”. This work with the actors is very important in creating the naturalness and accuracy in the Dardennes’ films. This work has twice won Best Actor/Actress at Cannes: for Emilie Dequenne in 1999 (Rosetta) and for Olivier Gourmet in 2002 (Le Fils (The Son)).

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne attend Cannes very regularly, every three years in fact, since 1998.  Each time they are prize-winners and are amongst the few directors to have been awarded the Palme d’or twice, for Rosetta in 1999 and for L’Enfant in 2005.

The film will be screened Sunday 15th May at 20:15 in the Buñuel Theatre.

B. de M.