Two Days, One Night

Courtesy of Cinéart, Diaphana Films, BIM Distribuzione, Les Films du Fleuve, Archipel 35, Canal +, Cine +, Eurimages, Eyeworks, France 2 Cinema, Radio Television Belge Francophone, Belgacom

                                                   WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Depression in itself is often shown onscreen to be the symptom of something bigger e.g. grief, anorexia, drug use etc. In reality a large amount of people suffer this debilitating mental illness which has no clear cause, and it’s nothing to scoff at. Depression leaves you hollow, self-hating, and drained in more than one way. A film that bald-facedly took on the subject, while including a morality tale about human compassion, “Two Days, One Night” is a foreign film that inspires and impresses.

            Everyone knew it would be a long shot if Marion Cotillard won for Best Actress for her performance. The fact that she’s won before, the film is foreign, and art-house, and there’s been little attention garnered via the press, shows that a win just wasn’t in the cards. Julianne Moore was a shoo-in for the award as well, having been nominated four times before and giving an otherworldly independent performance, much like Cate Blanchett the year before. It is strange that the film didn’t get a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, but then again even “Force Majeure” wasn’t nominated, and that was an early frontrunner as well. Good news though: the nomination will drive more people (like me) to see it and the immense power of Cotillard’s performance will be seen by more people. Besides that, a film that surrounds the issue of depression in a day to day capacity getting attention is unheard of, so there’s that.

            The plot revolves around factory worker Sandra (Cotillard) who has had a nervous breakdown, which has left her depressed and anxious. She’s medicated, but still jumpy, and her family has trouble taking care of her. When she has healed, she tries to go back to work only to find that her co-workers have voted for her termination, and each has been given a bonus. Without the incentive of helping her, many of her co-workers won’t give it up, and so Sandra has to change the minds of at least half of them to get her job back, over the course of a weekend. Human compassion seems overweighed by a general need for funds, as many of her co-workers have debts that cannot be ignored. Most of the film it seems impossible that she will turn anyone, and no one seems to have compassion for her plight. She becomes more and more desolate throughout, lending to a tragic turn.

          How the film handles Sandra’s attempted suicide is negligible. After trying to end your own life, which is a huge event and shows mental instability, you would not be up for continuing your quest, nor should you. Attempted suicide is not something that you shake off, nor would it actually imbibe you with a sense of purpose only several hours afterward. I will say that the very end, which is a lesson in human compassion and the old moral two wrongs don’t make a right, was actually quite effective. Cotillard delivered a moving, haunting portrait of a depressed woman, and she did it in a film that is really quite spellbinding.