The trouble with success, especially critical success, is the accompanying expectation that it brings. In the case of the Dardenne brothers, success equals the two Cannes Palmes D'or glistening atop their mantlepiece, and their status as one of the world's premier filmmaking teams, but the resulting anticipation of whatever had to follow the hugely acclaimed L'Enfant (2006) has resulted in a bit of a critical mauling for their new film. Let's get one thing straight: Le Silence de Lorna is certainly not terrible; it does, however, represent something of a departure from the brothers' traditional terrain, which for many has clearly been hard to swallow.
At first, the situation seems like standard Dardennes fare: the titular Lorna is an Albanian working in a dry cleaners in the Belgian town of Liege. Her 'silence' is tied up to the situation she has gotten herself into: she is cohabiting and in a marriage of convenience with local junkie Claudy, she to acquire Belgian citizenship, he to take the financial incentive offered to him for such a deal. The wider plan is for them to divorce, and she to marry again to allow a presumably rich Russian man also to gain an EU passport. From the proceeds of this, Lorna and her actual boyfriend plan to settle down and open a snack bar in town.
On paper this all sounds a matter of paperwork, but the reality of the situation separates this from Green Card (1990) territory: deals are brokered in taxis through the menacing-looking small-time gangster Fabio, who from the off makes clear the absence of morals in the world which Lorna has gotten involved in. Though largely lacking in affection for her 'husband', she is naturally horrified at plans to give him a killer overdose in order to speed along her next sham marriage. What Fabio's introduction into proceedings does is clearly define Le Silence de Lorna as a kind of morality play: how far is the seemingly benign, if rather misguided, Lorna willing to go to in search of her ambition?
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