Deux jours, une nuit / Two Days, One Night (2014)

At this point in 2015, my favorite movie from 2014 is Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne's Deux jours, une nuit / Two Days, One Night (2014). It revolves around the importance of a single job -- one worker's job on the line -- and her efforts, with the help of her husband and others, to save it. Marion Cotillard is fantastic, as is the whole crew. It's rare to see such an interesting take on modern life shown in this intimate way. Powerful stuff. 

Deux jours, une nuit / Two Days, One Night (2014) takes place in Wallonia, Belgium, yet it has many of the hallmarks of multiple global markets in the second decade of the 21st century. You will see bottled water, pizza, mobile phones / cellphones, wireless computers, a small solar factory, industrial blight, sports, ice cream, jeans and t-shirts, new housing, and a few vestiges of locality -- a baked tart, pastries, older architecture. These contrasting hallmarks alone are worth checking out, a real eye-opener.  

Deux jours, une nuit / Two Days, One Night reminds me of my temporary job delivering pizzas -- quick glimpses into people's lives at the delivery point. Here, our protagonist must schlep around town to make her case with co-workers in their home environments, bringing up this deep question: how much does anyone know about their peers, really?  And just as importantly, how much do they care what happens to them? 

Deux jours, une nuit / Two Days, One Night: not incidentally, Marion Cotillard is up for an Academy Award (Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role) for her role as Sandra Bya.

Today's Rune: Signals.  Full disclosure: I'm part Walloon by way of Sweden, so extra attentive to the film's setting.