December 2008Issue 418



The Silence of Lorna

Written and directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

Low key, gripping and unsentimental – latest from the Dardenne brothers.
Product information
105 minutes
Star rating
****

Lorna, an Albanian working in a Belgian laundry, needs money to open a snack bar. The first step is citizenship, so she marries a very sick heroin addict who no-one expects to live very long. Then she plans to marry again, for money.

It all goes awry when Lorna can’t be as mercenary as the gangster who’s arranging her second marriage expects.

Rooted in time, place and social class, as all the Dardennes’ films are, this is an unsentimental, low-key and gripping drama that doesn’t let go. 

ML




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