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Sunday, August 30, 2009

Film Art House

Posted by Charles Mudede on Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 2:20 PM

In the Dardenne brothers new and excellent film, Lorna's Silence (it's currently playing at the Varsity), a woman, Lorna (the beautiful Arta Dobroshi), in the late part of her twenties, has to make a tough decision.

She, an Albanian immigrant, is married to a Belgian junky for the useful (and loveless) purpose of obtaining citizenship. The person who arranged the marriage, an Albanian gangster who operates out of a taxi, wants to kill the junky and set the stage for a larger plan involving a rich Russian. Though Lorna hates the junky, she does not want him killed. She wants a simple divorce and to pay him what she owes. The gangster wants death and nothing else. At the moment the junky is unwittingly walking to his death (a hitman in the form of a drug dealer), Lorna takes off her clothes and offers him a another direction: she offers him sex; in short, she offers the junky life. The scene brings to mind another scene in another movie, Tarkovsky's Sacrifice. In that film, a man (a professor) is told by a postman that he can save the world from World War III by having sex with a witch (a maid). Both movies reach the core of Diotima's wisdom: reproduction is the meaning of love. And love is the meaning of life. Life is right; death is wrong. That's the raw ethics of the Dardenne brothers.

Comments (7) RSS

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How many pimps are you going to put out for this movie?

Posted by filmflam on August 30, 2009 at 4:05 PM

Fine review.

Posted by mcfnord on August 30, 2009 at 4:33 PM

You didn't just give away the end of the movie, did you?

Posted by John G. on August 30, 2009 at 4:37 PM

@ 3,

Like we were actually going to see this?

p.s. As soon as I read "reproduction is the meaning of love. And love is the meaning of life. Life is right; death is wrong." I knew this was a Mudede post. I never have to read the posted by line to tell one of yours.

Posted by yucca flower on August 30, 2009 at 4:42 PM

5 Comment Pulled (OffTopic) Comment Policy