Soldiers' Stories
A New Kind of War Film: Work as a Matter of Life and Death
In Dequenne's visceral performance (for which she shared the prize for Best Actress at Cannes), Rosetta's character is revealed through repeated, unexplained gestures-like pulling on a pair of rubber boots-that are as tense and ritualized as a warrior's. The boots are meant to protect her from the mud that covers the campsite and, like her mother's despair, threatens to engulf her.
From its handheld camera-work to its refusal to provide psychological interpretation, the film's storytelling is as naked and direct as Rosetta's fight for survival. "Rosellini called it 'the dry eye'-not too much pathos," Luc says, citing as reference points the Italian master's Germany Year Zero as well as Bresson's simplicity and the arid emotional terrain of Howard Hawks's Scarface.
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This lean, taut style is also a product of a lifelong conversation. "With age, we need to explain much less-so many things are simply understood between us. Like an old couple," Luc says.
"Of course, as with old couples," Jean-Pierre adds with a laugh, "sometimes things end in murder."
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