Belgian filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne launch the drama “Young Mothers”, talk to “Estadão” about their move away from Hollywood and react to the praise of Martin Scorsese and Wagner Moura
Maybe it was Martin Scorsese who best defined the cinema of Dardenne brothers. In the recent book Dialogues on faithinvestigating religiosity in his career, the American filmmaker says he is an admirer of Belgian directors: “The Dardennes do not look away from the ugliness of life. They make difficult but touching films.”
This humanist, social and empathetic cinema which is characterized in prestigious works like Rosette (1999), The Son (2001), The boy on the bike (2011)Two days, one night (2014), among others, appears again in Young motherswhich is released in Brazilian cinemas on January 1st.
The feature film, winner of the Best Screenplay Prize and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the last Cannes Film Festivaltenderly depicts the female drama by following five pregnant teenagers who live together in a mothers’ home in the Liège region of Belgium.
In Dardenne’s European cinema, foreign to Hollywood, the themes never precede the characters, they emerge from them. Poverty, unemployment or early motherhood, as in the case of the new film, seem to shape the choices of marginalized protagonists more than to illustrate or criticize a social problem.
In a video conference interview with Stadiumthe septuagenarian brothers commented on the main concepts of Young mothers and, in a relaxed tone, they said that only death could end the brotherly relationship. They also reacted to praise from Martin Scorsese and Wagner Moura, who recently named them his favorite filmmakers in the world.
Read the full conversation below.
Brother filmmakers are increasingly rare. The Coens separated, and so did the Safdies. And you continue to collaborate after so many years. What is the secret of this partnership?
Jean Pierre: The secret is that there is no secret. We are already very old and I think we will end up like the Taviani brothers, whom only death separated (laugh).
Luke: There is no secret, it’s true. It’s hard to say. I think it’s important that we have a common childhood. It wasn’t the same, but it was a commonality. This is what allows us to work together.
“Young Mothers” is another film in which you look with great concern at female dramas. Is the world unfair to women?
Luke: Without a doubt, yes. The world is also unfair to men in some ways. But I believe it is more unfair to women than to men. Just look at the salaries men receive and the salaries women receive. And also the number of women killed by men. The opposite is very rare. We are interested in characters who reveal the poverty, inequalities, injustice that exist in societies. It’s one of the reasons, it’s not the only one, but it’s one of the reasons why our characters are also women. Because they experience it much harder than men.
His films are very different from what is produced in Hollywood, whether in terms of themes, visuals or performances. Did the fact that you were not part of the Hollywood universe solidify your identity as a filmmaker?
Jean Pierre: Since we started working, we can only do what we like. Hollywood is not part of our thinking. We live in a part of the world where the film industry does not exist. Hollywood is therefore an industry. In Europe, there is no industry. We make artisanal cinema, so to speak.
In his book on religion and faith, Martin Scorsese says he admires your cinema: “The Dardennes admit the possibility of redemption. They don’t look away from the ugliness of life. They make “spiritual thrillers” about people who live on the margins of life. These are not easy films to watch. Do you agree with this?
Luke: Okay, and we thank you, because this tribute honors us. Our characters live in bad conditions. In other words, if there is one bottle of water for three people and we know we won’t have water for a month, what do we do with that bottle of water? Do we share or do we drink alone? Morality begins with material needs. Material needs are therefore immediately spiritual.
Someone who also likes you very much is the Brazilian actor Wagner Moura. He said: “The Dardennes are my favorite filmmakers in the world because they can talk about young people in a way that I’ve never seen anyone else do.” Is it fair to say that youth is a period filled with life’s greatest dramas?
Jean Pierre: What a nasty question! (laugh) The young people at the center of our films are young people who are faced with situations that we do not normally face at that age. There is therefore a fundamental injustice. And at the same time, these are situations where you have the opportunity to mature quickly. This is something that interests us. And the second thing that also interests us is that young people, because they are capable of anything, normally have the hope that things will improve, that they will get out of the situations in which they find themselves. They have a lot of hope that things can change. For example, when we see that at the center of the film are these young mothers, the viewer sees the way these people see the world.
Luke: Finally, I would like to say that we are very happy to see that our film will be received by the Brazilian public and, I hope, by a large number of spectators. We really like Brazilian cinema, both current cinema and cinema from previous years.
Jean Pierre: And we are very excited about Kleber Mendonça Filho’s film, The secret agent.
About The Author
