Rust & Bone Analysis

Rust & Bone

Rust & Bone is a french film directed by Jacques Audiard and released in 2012. This film takes on a hybrid genre, a mix between a romance and drama, its a hard hitting film which i feel is successful because it is raw and unembellished. This film touches on taboo subjects relating to sexuality and disability and the relationship between the two. The film consists of a narrative where two very different people come across each other paths resulting in them being of benefit to each other in different ways, they both play a 'saviour' role in each other lives. 

Power and poverty are clear themes that run throughout the film, the issues regarding poverty are introduced immediately through the opening scenes where we see Alain(Matthias Schoenaerts) and his son, sam(Armand Verdure) searching for leftover food to eat on the train.instantly we can see the devotion Alain has to his son and how much he cares for him, Alain's fatherly role is tested throughout the film at various moments, like in the iconic 'Ice scene' where sam falls through the ice and we see Alain punch through the ice to retrieve his son. this is almost like the the final hurdle where he proves his love for his son. This also shows us another theme, which is water.water plays a significant part in the film, not only did it pose a threat towards sam's life but it also played a big role in Stephanie's(Marion Cotillard) injuries, although ironically, while water was an attributing factor towards her accident, the sea actually helps Stephanie to deal with her condition, allowing her to feel like herself again. this concept of regaining power over something which once had power over you, is shown effectively through the recognisable scene where Stephanie revisits the Killer whale that caused her injuries. The wide establishing shot uses a lot of negative space exposing the difference in the scale of the whale compared to the young woman. The

low angle shot implies that the orca is the dominant creature however the scene shows how Stephanie has control over the whale by just using her arms and hands, this scene also signifies Stephanie is not only controlling the whale again but regaining power over her own life. the regain of control imposes the idea that the orca itself symbolises Alain . In another scene Stephanie sets Alain straight and tells him ' we continue but not like animals' this could be a reference to the concept that the orca is Alain as she refers to them both as animals.

Elements within Mise en scene and the cinematography help express underlying messages and themes really effectively. This film features a strong absence of sound at specific moments when you'd expect sound to be the most important thing, for example in the 'whale attack' scene the sound becomes muffled and quiet and when the camera submerges underwater we hear very little sound which is distorted by the water, this creates a lot of tension and makes the scene much more intense.It triggers all the senses of the audience making it a realistic experience. Not only is there an absence of sound , but there is also an absence of dialogue, the actors performances and cinematography etc is strong enough to tell the story without masses of dialogue, there are moments where an intense facial expression or a scene with intensified sound or light is all that is needed to tell the narrative.

The relationship between Alain and Stephanie exposes the truths behind masculinity and femininity in western culture. Stephanie, being a double amputee battles with confidence and sexuality, when they revisit the club, there are recurring close up shots of females dancing, their legs and short skirts. this is a clear reference to the sexualisation of women and women's bodies within society while also referring to Stephanie's craving to have her 'femininity' back as she watches these other women do what she used to be able to do, while also highlighting the rather obvious factor that she wishes to have her legs back and to be able to revert back to how she once was earlier in the film when her and Alain first meet. Alain's insensitive and discourteous approach towards his promiscuous lifestyle creates contrasting views against Stephanie's bringing light to the differences between the sexes.

Jacques Audiard is probably best known for his film 'A Prophet'(2009), a crime/ drama, which has won multiple awards, he has also directed a film called 'dheepan'(2015) which explores similar themes to both the prophet and rust and bone. Many of Audiard's films explore poverty and and issues that face immigrants in France. In both ' The Prophet' and 'Dheepan' culture and ethnicity are clear catalysts for the narratives whereas rust and bone touches upon other subjects much less to do with immigration and racism. Not only has Audiards rust and bone won Awards for best film(Globes de Cristal) and screenplay(Caesar) but the actors involved have also won awards for their outstanding performances like Matthias Schoenaerts for Caesars Most promising actor. The amount of awards won and nominated regarding this film is a reflection of the quality of rust & bone.