BallWubba
Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.
Senteur
As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
Aubrey Hackett
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
morninglory2504
Very minor spoiler ahead: Monumentally depressing. It was a great movie, really effective. You really get to care about the key characters which is why it's so heart-wrenching by the end. Very well-done. It was superbly acted, especially the female lead. She was very good. She could convey so much without delivering a single line. I would definitely look for other movies she was in. Not to mention the actor who played her husband. But still... I wish i hadn't watched it at all. SUCH a downer. If you want to feel moody and depressed, definitely give this a watch. If you want a happy ending? Do yourself a favor, go watch Who Framed Roger Rabbit or something.
alan_pavelin
Having now seen it twice - what a terrific film! Arta Dobroshi is literally on screen for every single scene, and for all but a few seconds of the film: an amazing performance. When will we see more of her? The subject-matter is pretty grim, and not for those who like only romcoms and the like. I love all the Dardenne brothers films: Rosetta, The Son, and The Child, which rivals Lorna for their best in my view. Their usual trademarks are here, hand-held cameras following the characters round, usually in close-up; drab industrial surroundings (the town of Liege I believe); characters on the margins of society, including here a dodgy Russian with his interpreter. A great movie.
lastliberal
Dry cleaner by day, and bride by night, Lorna (Arta Dobroshi) makes a whole lot more turning over husbands who want to live in Belgium.Her current husband, Claudy (Jeremie Renier) is a drug addict. The marriage was arranged by Fabio (Fabrizio Rongione), a real low life. She needs to get out of this marriage to marry a Russian who wants residence. Fabio will take care of that.In the meantime, she and her boyfriend Sokol (Alban Ukaj) are saving money and making plans to open a sandwich shop. She hopes the next marriage is the last and she will be free.Jeremie Renier plays a very good role. He wants to quit, but his incessant needs wear Lorna down.Arta Dobroshi is excellent. She is being used by Fabio just because she is a woman. He is only interested in money.Lorna is a victim of circumstances, and definitely a survivor.A great character driven film.
Ilpo Hirvonen
Le silence de Lorna (Lorna's Silence) is the latest film by the great Dardenne brothers. They are modernizing cinema of today philosophically as they are narratively. Compared to another film by the brothers Le fils (2002) Le silence de Lorna is not as experimental, but at least as good, if not better. It's their first portrait of an adult woman and they succeed incredibly well as always. The film deals with the European identity of today, inhumanity in human trafficking, and puts us in front of a social question: how can humanity or any sort of morality remain in this cruel world we live in?Lorna (Arta Dobroshi) is in her thirties living in Belgium and dreaming of a better life. She lives in an arranged marriage with a junkie, Claudy (Jérémie Renier). The man who runs the arranged marriage business, Fabio (Fabrizio Rongione) is planning to kill Claudy in hope of a better marriage deal. Fabio arranges men to marry Lorna for money so they can get a citizenship of Belgium. Le silence de Lorna deals with the subject of human trafficking; business where the price of human life isn't high. It all happens in front of our eyes but we aren't doing a thing. In the end it grows out to be a strong moral study and the influence Krzysztof Kieslowski has had on the brothers is obvious.The Dardenne brothers are well known for their minimalism which can also be seen in Lorna's Silence. It doesn't have much music in it and the dialog is marginal - a lot from little is the core of minimalism. Luc Dardenne has said that he always listens to Beethoven before starting to work and, in the end, when the credits come on we get to listen Beethoven. The brothers have said that the more you take material away the closer you get to humane experiences. Their films are filled with body language, gestures and close camera-work. The cinematography is unique and reinforces the position of a camera as an instrument for philosophy. They follow their characters closely and through that let us observe the situations they get into, the situations in which they are prisoners of. The camera let's you to get into the minds of the characters. The camera sees what the character sees, it doesn't know what happens outside of the character's world - so what has been cloaked from us?The leading themes of the story are humanity, detachment, guilt, inhumanity and the European identity of today. The subject is very current in the age we live in. As I earlier mentioned Le silence de Lorna brings up a question how humanity can survive in the world of human trafficking. All the people in the business are portrayed as inhumane and careless. Where the victim of the business (the junkie) is portrayed as innocent. The eternal battle between good and evil is just one of the references to religion. Even that the brothers are atheists they had a strong catholic upbringing which can clearly be seen in their work. God is dead in their world view but they often use Christian allegories to reconstruct new humane experiences.In the end where Fabio hears that Lorna is pregnant and won't have an abortion he wants to get rid off her. We see Lorna getting away with her baby, going into a detached house in the woods - the culmination of theme detachment. It is quite obvious that Lorna isn't really pregnant. The baby is just a symbol. It's a memory of the past; of Cloudy and how it was Lorna's fault that he got killed. The baby is actually the guilt she's carrying.A marvelous film about the loss of humanity. I just saw it in theaters today and it went straight to my top ten of the decade. This film is very energetic, the movement in it worked brilliantly and as the brothers have admitted; movement is much more important than the plot in their films. Le silence de Lorna is a thought-provoking experience about the world we live in, our concept of moral and the European identity.
