The New Classics: Two Days, One Night
Tuesday, May 12, 2020 at 2:30PM 
I become invested in the struggles of Sandra in Two Days, One Night in a way I rarely do with other protagonists.
The Dardenne’s unadorned style combined with the rawness of Marion Cotillard’s performance convince me completely of the reality of what’s unfolding, and I monitor Sandra like a friend for whom I am gravely concerned, inspecting every downward glance for hints of an impending crack up. When she teeters on the brink of a deep abyss after the film’s brutal first act, I can intuit that she is probably one more setback away from surrendering to her darkest impulses. The film doesn't need to say so...
And then, when she is met not with another humiliation, but an outpouring of kindness and empathy? It’s difficult not to puff up your chest in sympathy as the life flows back into her...
Scene: Timur’s breakdown
Sandra's employer has put her in a predicament that is brilliant in its craven gutlessness. Her coworker’s were made to choose between keeping their bonuses or letting Sandra keep her job making solar panels. They voted as a fearful herd, 14-2 in favor of bonuses. Sandra has the weekend to confront them one-on-one in hopes of moving the needle on a second vote. The best case scenario ends with Sandra as a pity-object to a group of coworkers who openly resent her.
It’s a structure not unlike High Noon where the hero has to swallow his pride and appeal to the community to sacrifice for his salvation. By the time we get to the scene where Sandra confronts Timur we worry Two Days might be following the same lamentable track as the Gary Cooper classic, which ends with the lawman standing alone, abandoned by his community. Sandra has thus far racked up two refusals and one person who pretended not to be home like someone avoiding trick-or-treaters.
And yet, miraculously, instead of one more round of timid buck-passing Timur immediately breaks down in sobs. He apologizes profusely, saying the guilt is eating him up and promising to vote in her favor come Monday morning. Walking away a smile spreads out over Cotillard’s face and for a moment human decency positively overflows the brim of the movie. Hope has made its first appearance in the story.
This type of film can feel as formulaic in its drab stoicism as Hollywood is in its schmaltz. And by this type of film I mean European docudramas about people without much money getting screwed by the system. When Timur breaks the pattern of his coworkers one recognizes the Dardennes are operating on a much higher level than run-of-the-mill art house miserablism. We exhale with relief that this film is not going to be a pre-programmed slog through Sandra's degradations, but something much richer. Timur's sudden weeping feels utterly spontaneous and the two actors ride the crest of that emotion, as if the screenplay had called for Sandra to meet with one more round of rejection but the actors couldn’t go through with it.
There is a deep vein of rage humming beneath the surface of Two Days, One Night. The Dardenne brothers are too cool to press their points or nudge you in the ribs but they make it unmistakable. Management has essentially provided Sandra’s coworkers with a variation on Richard Matheson’s classic Button Button, where pressing a button causes some anonymous person to die but you reap a fortune. In this case they make Sandra disappear and get their bonuses. We recognize this divide and conquer technique from countless real life examples of the powerful using it on the powerless.
Sandra’s insistence on meeting them face-to-face removes the anonymity from the dynamic. Management was counting on Sandra’s coworkers to hide in the group, while making sure they all had a little blood on their hands. Can’t get too mad at others if you’re burning with shame yourself. It is also helpful to management for employees to channel their frustration at Sandra for pressing the issue, instead of them for paying such a meager wage that a year-end bonus becomes a matter of survival.
You can’t watch Two Days, One Night without wondering how you would behave if presented with the same choices. We hope we would be noble, but what if we are sacrificing not only our own well-being but the well-being of those who depend on us? The Dardennes are careful not to turn any of Sandra's coworkers into easy villains. Everyone has their reasons, everyone is struggling. Timur’s scene doesn’t undo that complexity, but it does show that it is possible, not always but sometimes, to cut straight through it.
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Previous episodes of The New Classics here.
Reader Comments (26)
My absolutely favourite of Cotillard's many, varied performances - even better than her jaw-dropping work in Rust & Bone.
One of the most extraordinary performances of the last decade.
Brilliant performance -- one of the two or three best of the 2010s -- in a very good film. Glad she pipped Aniston for that Oscar nomination.
michael, excellent article. i think this is the best film the dardennes ever made (which is saying a lot). and i agree with Aaron: cotillard's performance is one of the greatest of this last decade for sure. a deeply moving, controlled, passionate piece of acting in a truly moral film.
....and also, Timur gives an incredible one-scene performance in the sequence discussed! Very memorable.
Having seen a lot of the films the Dardenne Brothers did prior to this one, I knew what they going to do visually and such but it was in the story and Cotillard's performance that made it feel so different. Especially that scene involving Timur as the anguish he's facing feels real and Cotillard having to be the one to realize it's not her job at stake but also many others as she's conflicted as well.
Besides Cate Blanchett, was there an actor (!) more ON FIRE than Cotillard since she burst into the scene?
She won the Oscar.
Not to rest on one's laurels, she did solid work on Public Enemies, Midnight in Paris and Inception, ran circles around everyone in Nine, upped her game in Rust and Bone, was luminous and brilliant in The Immigrant AND went deep for the jugular in Two Days, One Night.
From 2007-2017, she could/should have been Oscar-nominated for Nine and Rust and Bone along those other 2 nominations (and a well-deserved win).
Here's to another very inspired decade, Marion.
I've been a fan for a long time.
I consider Marion's performance as one of the Holy Trinity of female performances of the last decade with Blanchett in Blue Jasmine and Theron in Young Adult.
one of my fave series is back... thank you!
Thank YOU, Olesh. Glad you are enjoying it.
Jay - well said. And not the least bit of hyperbole. I actually guested on a friend's podcast recently and was asked to fill out an Oscar Ballot for the decade. My choices for Best Actress line up was:
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Marion Cotillard - Two Days, One Night
Essie Davis - The Babadook
Julie Delpy - Before Midnight
Charlize Theron - Fury Road
The acting tour de force of the decade.
Forgot to say - thank you for a wonderful write-up, Michael!
My Oscar ballot for the decade, since we're at it:
Annette Bening, 20th Century Women
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
:)
Cotillard is better in THE IMMIGRANT that same year, though!
This was a great choice, although you could easily have gone with L'ENFANT or THE KID WITH A BIKE, equally good.
Jonathan - The Kid With a Bike. Now there is an under appreciated masterwork.
I love this performance so much and was always baffled that some preferred her work in The Immigrant (sorry Jonathan). Also so proud to have nominated her scene partner here at the Film Bitch Awards that year under Best Cameo, Male.
Such a good movie! But while she's very good (as usual) I think it's the writing, directing, and the performances of the ensemble as a whole that elevate this to what it is.
I think the Dardennes' best film is Le Fils, but it's a very high bar; Two Days, One Night is very good and Cotillard is wonderful in it. A very well-deserved nomination.
My leading actresses of the decade (from the Oscar nominees) include Cotillard as well as:
Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Julianne Moore in Still Alice
Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn
Charlotte Rampling in 45 Years
Cotillard is great here and it’s crazy cannes kept ignoring her!
I am #teamTheImmigrant, but she's awesome in this one, too.
I think her performance in The Immigrant is mysterious, evocative, enigmatic, very much like Juliette Binoche's best work (Blue, Camille Claudel 1915) while her turn in Two Days, One Night is much more accessible.
She got me mesmerized in Gray's movie because of her way to internalize pain and love and longing. Her acting for the Dardennes is more like a Jodie Foster performance: focused, smart, intelligent, precise.
She's brilliant in both movies, but I know where my heart is.
One of the best of the decade. Just extraordinary.
Would’ve nominated her twice in Best Actress in 2014.
Completely love her in The Dark Knight Rises.
I loved that she received an Oscar nomination for this. As Mo'nique would put it,'it should be about the art and not the politics.'
I think hearing her name being called in the nominations announcement is the most pleasantly surprised I've been since I started watching those live!
She's always great, but count me in as one of the ones that think it wasn't even her best performance that year (The Immigrant). I'm surprised no one's bashed Julianne Moore yet.
I don't remember if I liked it a good amount, or if I felt bored and annoyed. I don't know how.
I do remember that she's amazing in it.
Her nom is such a welcome surprise, considering althot she won NYFCC & NSFC, she was unanimously snubbed by GG, SAG & Bafta, and Indie Spirits nom her for The Immigrants instead.
Sometime the Oscars right some wrong choices made by other major precursors (Halo, Parasite!)
Love this movie!! Thanks for revisiting it.
Great text as usual, Michael, many thanks, I love this series! Cotillard is one of my favorite actresses and her performance here is truly amazing! She really deserved that nomination, I was so happy when it was announced!