Love is messy and often more than a little painful, maybe even a punch in the face. At least that’s the idea behind the title of Rust and Bone, winner of the London Film Festival, the darling of TIFF and the Cannes Film Festival, now opening this Friday in Toronto.
Raw, brutal and yet poetic…critics worldwide have raved about this steamy film.
I saw a great many films at TIFF earlier this year.
Rust and Bone was not an easy one to dismiss. I will never again think of a frozen lake without recalling a horrific scene, just one element in the often shocking collection of images. Here is not a film for timid moviegoers. There are scenes of brutal violence and steamy sex but don’t mistake the unflinching view: the film is as ambiguous as it is profound. A bruised romance between a nightclub bouncer and an orca trainer who loses her legs in a marine park accident, the film stars Oscar-winning French star Marion Cotillard and Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts.
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| Courtesy: Rex Features |
Here at TIFF, both drew crowds and whistles. But in this film, they are stripped of glamour in some extraordinary intimate scenes. A sullen-looking Cotillard tries to adjust to losing her legs while Schoenaerts sporting a paunch, is ready to brawl for the next buck. The actor relied on junk food to gain a belly but trained for months to be convincing on screen as a fighter.
Expect big things at the Academy Awards on Feb. 24th for Rust and Bone. Cotillard picked up a Screen Actor’s Guild nomination today for best actress. The SAG nominations kick off awards season with the follow-up act tomorrow morning when the Golden Globe nominations are announced.
( See who was snubbed here in the complete list of SAG nominees)
