tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918706045118360948.post3204909133080289150..comments2023-06-03T10:15:31.962+02:00Comments on Scriptwriting Secrets from... Belgium?!?: Le Silence De Lorna (2008): Storytelling and Audience Awarenessmrswinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16121973088315971132noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918706045118360948.post-67970291509928565602009-07-30T19:07:37.883+02:002009-07-30T19:07:37.883+02:00On the other hand, showing Claudy's murder cou...On the other hand, showing Claudy's murder could be a very melodramatic moment (not that I would object to that, I like a little melodrama, but somehow it does not strike me as a very Dardenne-thing to do) - not showing it gives you a sudden jolt of realization (at least it did me) and you have to recover from that - especially since they made you think in the previous scene everything would be hunky dory. I think it's that shock to the system they were after. Worked for me, as said. I have far more problems with the little red riding hood ending in the woods, which comes way too close to magic realism for my taste - but again, probably the idea was to confound expectations once again: up until now we've been watching what in effect is a thriller, so what would have to happen is the big show down in which our heroine faces the baddies. How could such an ending not be cliched, they must have thought. and perhaps they're right - but Lorna talking to herself in that hut in the woods didn't feel very satisfying either, even though it's a descent into madness that's been more or less prepared throughout the second half of the movie. Maybe they couldn't face the bleakness of what I think the ending should be: she hits the guy with the rock, but he's not out - he pursues her through the woods and kills her. Bleak, yes, without hope, certainly, but far more probable than anything else...<br />Anyways, my favourite Dardenne film is still Le Fils - in spite or perhaps because of the fact it being stylistically so close to Bresson's Un condamné à mort s'est echappé.<br />Cheerio,<br />MichAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com