The Dardenne brothers have the uncanny ability to empathize with, but never pity, the down-and-out, blue collar characters that populate their films. Much like English director Mike Leigh, the Dardennes turn over stones, making films about marginalized people who may seem too insignificant to earn a front and center role on film. However, the struggle of daily life, in the hands of the Dardennes, can be just as compelling to watch as more grandiose ambitions. Two Days, One Night begins, like most Dardenne films, in medias res, its principal character desperate. Sandra (Marion Cotillard), who works at a solar-panel factory, has been on leave while battling depression, and has learned that her co-workers, forced to vote between re-hiring her or earning a €1,000 bonus, have opted that she lose her job. But when a sympathetic co-worker reveals that the foreman coerced the vote, Sandra convinces her boss to hold a second vote, this time via secret ballot. After he agrees, Sandra has the weekend to visit her co-workers and convince them to vote so she can keep her livelihood.
Watching a woman repeat the same entreaty over and over again may sound like a boring premise for a film, but Two Days, One Night offers a hypnotic meditation on the human race. While Sandra’s plea is more or less the same each and every time, the anticipation of the final vote, as well as the difference in each of her co-worker’s situations, makes for compelling drama. It is imperative that Sandra keep her job, or else her family will likely go back to public housing. Her husband Manu (Fabrizio Rongione) knows this, and appears to cajole Sandra into visiting her co-workers when her resolve begins to flag. But each encounter offers a small view into the life and situation of Sandra’s co-workers. Some agree to help, others don’t because the idea of losing €1,000 is too harmful for their own financial situations. Some feel guilty, some lash out at Sandra. This is some compelling stuff.
Cotillard, a big name actress starring a film by directors who usually work with amateurs, gives a strong performance as a woman who must swallow her pride and beg her co-workers to forfeit a good deal of money for her behalf. Taking Xanax like it’s candy, Sandra is still damaged, and a weekend slog through a Belgian town begging for job can’t be good for her psyche. Sandra’s weekend is one of discovery, one where the viewer learns along with her about how humans behave when placed in an awkward situation. Some will cry and hug you. Others won’t even come to the door. Some will fight and others will try to rationalize their own guilt. It’s a grand experiment, and the Dardennes wisely pair us with a character who isn’t entirely emotionally held-together.
To say, Two Days, One Night is solely about Sandra would be misleading. Yes, the film is filtered through her experiences. But the Dardennes portray a class of people who may not be as desperate as characters in their other films, yet like Sandra live such an existence that €1,000 is a game changer. No matter the decision, you cannot blame the people who decline to help her.
Of course, the fateful vote is where the film leads, and the Dardennes don’t play fast and loose with our expectations, leaving us with sly ambiguity. We find out what happens to Sandra and her job, yet the directors throw in a twist that none of us will likely see coming. But Two Days, One Night is about the journey, the struggle to survive. This is why we fight.