Rust and Bone: A Slow Awakening to Love

Last updated on: January 8, 2013 at 6:36 am by Christian Hamaker

Rust and Bone: A Slow Awakening to Love 2013-01-08T06:36:26-07:00 Christian Hamaker

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Review of Rust and Bone, Directed by Jacques Audiard

By CHRISTIAN HAMAKER

Pity the critic who can’t make heads or tails of what he’s just seen. Readers, who look to him for guidance, will surely be disappointed when he frankly admits he’s not sure about the merits of a particular film.

That’s the case with this critic’s take on Rust and Bone, the new film from Jacques Audiard, whose last film—the Cannes Film Festival prize winner A Prophet—left me similarly befuddled.

And for that reason, I think I love Audiard’s work.

How often are we left with honest questions after seeing a film? How often are our feelings unresolved, or in tension? Criticism is, for many, about the final judgment—or worse, about a quick verdict. I’ve watched Rust and Bone twice now—most recently the night before sitting down to write this—and I’m not sure how to evaluate it, or whether I can, in good conscience, recommend it. But the fact that I’m still thinking about the film—and about A Prophet, a few years after its release—speaks well of Audiard in an era where a filmmakers’ strengths and weaknesses are usually much more easily assessed.

You may have heard about Rust and Bone, which is currently in limited release, and which has generated awards attention for Marion Cotillard’s performance. She plays Stephanie, a trainer of orca whales at a theme park, who loses both lower legs after a routine goes awry. Forced to grapple with her new physical limitations, Stephanie withdraws and isolates herself for a time before reaching out to a nightclub bouncer, Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts), who is scraping by and caring for his son, Sam.

After the accident, Stephanie’s lower legs are CGI’d out of the picture—think of Captain Dan (Gary Sinise) in Forrest Gump—and Cotillard gives an affecting performance as woman who must come to terms with her new limitations. But despite the awards-machine hype surrounding Cotillard’s performance in Rust and Bone, it’s Ali and Sam who give the film most of its passion and heart.

Ali is not only a bruising physical specimen who works as a security guard, nightclub bouncer and underground fighter to support his son, Sam. But he’s also animalistic in his sexual appetite, picking up women for “quickies” when and where he can.

It’s at the nightclub where he meets Stephanie. She has a boyfriend, but she’s tired of him ordering her around. She’s ready to break free from relationships that shackle her. Yet the tragic incident in which she loses her legs binds her more than ever. She’s mostly confined to a wheelchair, which makes mundane activities such as going to the bathroom a major challenge. Withdrawn and in need of companionship, she reaches out to Ali, who becomes her inspiration for moving on with her life. He encourages her to get out more, to swim in the sea. But we know Ali isn’t all tenderness. He’s also a brute. He can be a threat to those he loves, even to his own son.

The story’s trajectory isn’t what you might imagine. There’s no typical romantic arc—a meet-cute, a falling out, an ending driven by reconciliation. No, Audiard is up to something else with Rust and Bone (he co-wrote the screenplay). The film’s second hour is largely devoted to Ali, who finds inspiration in Stephanie’s plight to overcome his own fears and vulnerabilities. (One of the film’s best scenes shows a moment of doubt for Ali—the only time we see him hesitate in fear.) The film becomes more graphic: Ali and Stephanie strike up a physical relationship, and Audiard lingers on their graphic sex scenes. But Stephanie needs more than just casual sex, and Ali needs to be more responsible both to Stephanie and to Sam.

The film’s final stretch—for those who can endure all that comes before—shows Ali’s moral awakening, such as it is. There are no speeches, no religious impulses, but there is a heart-stopping realization of what, and who, are most important in Ali’s life, as well as a declaration of love from a man who has never spoken in such terms until that point.

The movie’s message, to the extent there is one, is summed up by Stephanie, who, in challenging Ali to take their relationship to a higher level, says, “If we continue, we have to do it right. … not like animals.” Rust and Bone is about our primal instincts and urges—how to learn to use them for good, and overcome them when bad.

“Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city,” says Proverbs 16:32. By the end of Rust and Bone, Ali appears to be moving away from a warrior mentality, and learning self-control (Proverbs 25:28). After a difficult but often powerful two hours of celluloid, I’ll take that. And I’ll look forward to what Audiard will do in the future.

Drama

Films

Jacques Audiard

Previous Post

January 7, 2013

Josh Garrels Speaks of God

Next Post

January 9, 2013 Finding Your Soul-Mate

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action AFI Top 100 Animation Best Picture Winner BFI Top 250 Biography Biopic Books Childrens Christian Classics Classics Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Editor's Choice Family Fantasy Fantasy Films Foreign Historical Historical Fiction History Horror Horror IMDB Top 250 Indie Memoir Modern Novel Musical Mystery Non-Fiction Oscars Philosophy Poetry Popular Literature Reading and Writing Reality Romance Science Fiction Science Fiction Silent Sports Thriller TV Show Uncategorized Western Westerns Young Adult

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Messiah" mean in Hebrew?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Chosen One Son of God Anointed One Savior