Another dish of gritty naturalism from the Dardenne brothers of Belgium, Jean-Pierre and Luc, zeroing in on an immigration scam in which profit trumps human life. The plot, as noir as they come, is perhaps a tad more complex than the Dardennes are accustomed to or comfortable with. And, in conjunction with their accustomed and comfortable social stratum of constant scramble and barely-scraping-by, it could all have been intolerably bleak and arid if not for the weedy little sprouts of morality and conscience that so readily flourish under the brothers’ green thumb. These sprouts, similarly, are perhaps a tad more florid than normal, even while their depiction isn’t. Arta Dobroshi, Jérémie Renier, Fabrizio Rongione, Alban Ukaj. (2008) — Duncan Shepherd
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