The Silence of Lorna (2008)
"Le silence de Lorna" (original title)

Sokol and Lorna, two Albanian emigrants in Belgium, dream of leaving their dreary jobs to set up a snack bar. They need money, and a permanent resident status. Claudy is a junkie - he needs... See full summary »

Directors:

Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne

Writers:

Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne

Stars:

Arta Dobroshi, Jérémie Renier, Fabrizio Rongione

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arta Dobroshi	...	Lorna
Jérémie Renier	...	Claudy Moreau
Fabrizio Rongione	...	Fabio
Alban Ukaj	...	Sokol
Morgan Marinne	...	Spirou
Olivier Gourmet	...	L'inspecteur
Anton Yakovlev	...	Andrei
Grigori Manoukov	...	Kostia
Mireille Bailly	...	Monique Sobel
Stéphanie Gob	...	Nurse
Laurent Caron	...	Commissaire
Baptiste Somin	...	Morgue Attendant
Alexandre Trocky	...	Doctor
Cédric Lenoir	...	Bank Attendant
Cécile Boland	...	Female Doctor

Storyline

Sokol and Lorna, two Albanian emigrants in Belgium, dream of leaving their dreary jobs to set up a snack bar. They need money, and a permanent resident status. Claudy is a junkie - he needs money to satisfy his addiction. Andrei, the cigarette smuggler, must hold up for a while outside Russia; he has loads of money. Fabio, the Italian taxi driver and aspiring gang boss, elaborates a clever scheme: he will pay Claudy to marry Lorna so that she acquires a Belgian citizenship. Then she is to re-marry Andrei, who will in this way obtain the coveted EU passport - and pay a hefty price to Fabio and Lorna for the service. Like all plans, this one will not survive the contact with reality.

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Plot Keywords:

money | albanian | junkie | bar | belgium | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for brief sexuality/nudity, and language

Details

Official Sites:

Diaphana [fr] Official site [jp]

Country:

Belgium France Italy Germany

Language:

French Albanian Russian

Release Date:

27 August 2008 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

El silencio de Lorna

Filming Locations:

Liège, Wallonia, Belgium

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$34,411 (USA) (31 July 2009)

Gross:

$337,696 (USA) (27 November 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Fleuve, Archipel 35, Lucky Red

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Before being cast as Lorna, the only words Arta Dobroshi knew in French were the days of the week.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The Lovely Bones/The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus/The White Ribbon (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Since You're Back In Town"
By The Dinky Toys

User Reviews

Needed a Much Better Ending!

Lorna is well played by the actress. Lorna is a complicated woman who is involved in a game between the Belgian underground and marrying a Russian mobster. The only problem is that she is married to a drug addict who needs to die. She is also in love with a man named Sokol. She dreams of running a snack bar or cafe rather than working at the laundromat. But things slowly go awry when she can't a divorce fast enough. Her current husband wants to quit and go clean. Lorna gets paid for the marriage and the arrangement with the Russian mobster. Along the way, we learn Lorna's ethnic background and her motives. The film's ending needs to be more clear. We will never know the future for Lorna at the end and that's troubling.