Our Children (2012)
"À perdre la raison" (original title)

Like millions of other couples, Mounir and Murielle fall in love. Like millions of other couples, Mounir and Murielle have children. But unlike them, they accept to give up their autonomy ... See full summary »

Director:

Joachim Lafosse

Writers:

Thomas Bidegain, Joachim Lafosse,

Stars:

Niels Arestrup, Tahar Rahim, Émilie Dequenne

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Niels Arestrup	...	Le docteur André Pinget
Tahar Rahim	...	Mounir
Émilie Dequenne	...	Murielle
Stéphane Bissot	...	Françoise
Mounia Raoui	...	Fatima Pinget
Redouane Behache	...	Samir
Baya Belal	...	Rachida
Nathalie Boutefeu	...	Le docteur De Clerck
Yannick Renier	...	Le médecin radiologue
Claire Bodson	...	La femme policier à l'hôpital
Jean-Charles Hautera	...	Le professeur Maryns
Daniel Feis	...	Le pianiste
Joé Michels	...	Jade (nouveau-né)
Eléa Gillard	...	Jade (3 mois)
Charlie Hoscheck	...	Jade (3 mois)

Storyline

Like millions of other couples, Mounir and Murielle fall in love. Like millions of other couples, Mounir and Murielle have children. But unlike them, they accept to give up their autonomy by agreeing to live with Mounir's well off adoptive father, Doctor André Pinget. On the material level, all is well. But a house is not a home, and Murielle feels more and more stifled...

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Plot Keywords:

interracial romance | motherhood | wedding present | mother child relationship | infanticide | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Belgium Luxembourg France Switzerland

Language:

French Arabic

Release Date:

30 May 2012 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

Our Children

Filming Locations:

Luxembourg

Company Credits

Production Co:

Versus Production, Samsa Film, Les Films du Worso

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The official entry of Belgium to the Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards 2013.

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Soundtracks

"Stabat Mater"
Composed by Joseph Haydn
(1767)

User Reviews

"Concentrated and ambivalent love-story..."

Belgian screenwriter and director Joachim Lafosse's fifth feature film which he co-wrote with French screenwriter Thomas Bidegain and Belgian screenwriter Matthieu Reynaert, is based on a real-life incident that took place in Brussels in 2007 where a 42-year-old woman killed her five children. It premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 65th Cannes International Film Festival in 2012 and is a France-Belgium-Luxembourg-Switzerland co-production which was produced by producers Jacques-Henri Bronckart and Olivier Bronckart. It tells the story about Mounir and Murielle, a couple in their late twenties who lives in Brussels, Belgium. Murielle is a Belgian elementary school teacher and Mounir, a Moroccan and former youth worker without a permanent residence certificate. After deciding to get married, Mounir shares the great news with his close friend André Pinget, a wealthy doctor who has been like a father to him through most of his childhood and helped him and his family in many ways. André gives Mounir a full-time job at his practice, let's him and Murielle live with him in his apartment and Murielle and Mounir is happily married, but as time goes by André's ways of making himself indispensable and his insisting involvement in their lives begins to stagnate their relationship.

Precisely and commandingly directed by Belgian filmmaker Joachim Lafosse, this somewhat biographical and fictional story which is narrated mostly from the female protagonist's viewpoint, draws an intimate and nuanced portrayal of a Belgian teacher's saint like suffering after marrying, becoming a mother and being second-rated by a husband who is more committed to honoring the wishes of his generous and demanding father figure. While notable for it's naturalistic milieu depictions, fine production design by production designer Anna Falguéres, cinematography by Belgian cinematographer Jean-François Hensgens and realism, this narrative-driven and dialog-driven psychological drama triangle depicts an in a sense provocatively heartrending, due to it's non-judgmental and empathic portrait of the main character, study of character and contains an efficient classical score which emphasizes the film's tragic undertones.

This finely tuned character-piece about emigration, conflicting human relations, motherhood, mental exhaustion and paper marriage which is set in Brussels during a summer in the early 21st century and has been chosen as Belgium's submission to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards in 2013, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, abrupt editing by film editor Sophie Vercruysse, substantial character development, the poignant and impressive acting performances by Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne who comes close to her unforgettable acting performance in the Dardenne brothers' "Rosetta" (1999) and the fine acting performances by French actors Niels Arestrup, Tashar Rahim and Belgian actress Stéphane Bissot. A concentrated and ambivalent love-story which gained, among other awards, the Un Certain Regard Award for Best Actress Émilie Dequenne at the 65th Cannes Film Festival in 2012.