L'Enfant (film)

Plot

Bruno, 20, and Sonia, 18, are surviving on her welfare cheques and Bruno's petty crimes when Sonia becomes pregnant. While Sonia is absent, Bruno sells their baby to a black market adoption ring to make some quick cash. He tells Sonia, telling her that they can simply "make" another baby, but Sonia is sickened and faints.

Faced with Sonia's shock, and feeling regret for his mistake, Bruno buys the child back at a premium—but, after being turned away by Sonia, his mounting debts lead Bruno down a quick path to desperation. He also learns Sonia is pressing charges. He winds up in prison, and Sonia visits him, sharing a moment of despair.

Cast

• Jérémie Renier as Bruno
• Déborah François as Sonia
• Jérémie Segard as Steve
• Fabrizio Rongione
• Olivier Gourmet

Reception

Critical response

L'Enfant received critical acclaim. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives it an 86% approval rating, based on 106 reviews, with an average score of 7.5/10. The site's consensus reads, "The Dardennes continue to excel at presenting works of rigorous naturalism, with detached observations of authentic characters that nevertheless resonate with complex moral issues.". On Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 87, based on 34 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Accolades

L'Enfant won the Palme d'Or in 2005 Cannes Film Festival, making directors Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne twice winners of the Palme d'Or, having won the award previously in 1999 with Rosetta. The film received the André Cavens Award for Best Film by the Belgian Film Critics Association (UCC). It was also nominated for Best Film and Best Actor (for Jérémie Renier) at the European Film Awards.

The film was chosen as Belgium's official entry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards, but did not secure a nomination.

References

References

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5. "L'Enfant (The Child)". [[CBS Interactive]].
6. "L'Enfant". festival-cannes.com.
7. (21 May 2005). "'L'Enfant' des frères Dardenne, Palme d'or d'un cinéma des marges". [[Le Monde]].
8. (23 December 2005). "Foreign film barred from Oscars". [[BBC]].
9. Madeline White. "L'enfant". [[Pennsylvania State University]].
10. Alison James. (29 January 2006). "Cesar noms feeling 'Beat'".
11. "L'ENFANT". Academy of Italian Cinema.
12. "L'ENFANT". [[European Film Academy]].
13. "Nominalizari 2007". Asociaţia pentru Promovarea Filmului Românesc.
14. (30 January 2006). "Bästa filmen 2006: 'Ninas resa'". [[Expressen]].
15. (8 March 2006). "'L'Enfant' wint vijf Joseph Plateau Prijzen". [[De Tijd]].
16. "Prix et nominations : Lumières de la presse étrangère 2006". [[AlloCiné]].
17. (29 May 2014). "Past Award Winners". [[Toronto Film Critics Association]].