The best films of 2016 | INTELLIGENT CINEMATOGRAPHY |
THE UNKNOWN GIRL | Dardenne brothers, Belgium/France |
The iconic filmmaking duo bring their trademark realism to the murder mystery genre. Meticulous moral drama telling a taut, stripped-down story. Haenel plays Jenny Davin, a brilliant and idealistic young doctor in Liège who has refused a prestigious consultancy career to take up a community practice treating welfare patients. In the course of a busy and stressful evening at the clinic, the usually impeccably conscientious Jenny can’t be bothered to answer the outer door buzzer, due to a complicated situation with her intern-pupil Julien (Olivier Bonnaud) who is sullenly refusing to respond to her requests or accept her rebukes. She is mortified to discover later from the police that the person buzzing was a nameless young African woman, evidently desperate for help, who is later found dead.
Everyone who cares about the Dardenne brothers and what they have achieved in the movies will want to see this and make their own mind up. Even their missteps are interesting.