Two Days, One Night (2014)

Liège, Belgium. Sandra is a factory worker who discovers that her workmates have opted for a EUR1,000 bonus in exchange for her dismissal. She has only a weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses in order to keep her job.

Directors:

Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne

Writers:

Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne

Stars:

Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione, Catherine Salée

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 41 wins & 76 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marion Cotillard	...	Sandra
Fabrizio Rongione	...	Manu
Catherine Salée	...	Juliette
Baptiste Sornin	...	M. Dumont
Pili Groyne	...	Estelle
Simon Caudry	...	Maxime
Lara Persain	...	Femme de Willy
Alain Eloy	...	Willy
Myriem Akheddiou	...	Mireille
Fabienne Sciascia	...	Nadine
Anette Niro	...	Nanna
Rania Mellouli	...	Fille Timur
Christelle Delbrouck	...	Barwoman
Timur Magomedgadzhiev	...	Timur
Hassaba Halibi	...	Femme de Hicham (as Hassiba Halabi)

Storyline

Sandra Bya, married with two children, has been off work from her job at Solwal on medical leave for depression. During her absence from work, her boss, M. Dumont, on the suggestion of her immediate supervisor, the shop foreman Jean-Marc, figures that her section of the company can function with sixteen people working full time with a bit of overtime instead of seventeen with no overtime, that seventeenth person being Sandra. Because of the global competition the company faces, Dumont decides the company can only finance the annual bonuses for those sixteen employees, which are EUR1,000 per person, or Sandra's job, leaving the decision to those sixteen. On a Friday near the end of her medical leave, Sandra learns of this situation from her friend and co-worker Juliette after the "show of hands" vote is held, the result a 13-3 decision for the bonuses over Sandra's job. Because Juliette knows Jean-Marc, who is determined to get rid of Sandra, influenced the vote by scare mongering ...

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Plot Keywords:

injustice | depression | xanax | bonus | employer employee relationship | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some mature thematic elements

Details

Official Sites:

Curzon Home Cinema [UK] Diaphana Films [France]

Country:

Belgium France Italy

Language:

French Arabic English

Release Date:

21 May 2014 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

Two Days, One Night

Filming Locations:

Seraing, Liège, Wallonia, Belgium

Box Office

Budget:

EUR7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$30,700, 28 December 2014

Gross USA:

$1,436,243

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,863,243

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Fleuve, Archipel 35, BIM Distribuzione

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is set and was shot in Seraing, an industrial town in Liege, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium where the Dardenne brothers were born and raised. Their previous films were set in Seraing as well.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sandra: Hello? I was resting. Just a second. I have to get my tart out. I've made a tart for the kids. Yes, why? Tell me why. No. No, Juliette. No.
[hangs off the phone]
Sandra: You mustn't cry.

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Connections

Featured in The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: Marion Cotillard/Dame Edna (2015)

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Soundtracks

Lunch pop
Written by Olivier Hauregard
Performed by Olibwoy
© Olivier Hauregard
(p) Label Infraroots

User Reviews

Intense and moving

This French-language film is both written and directed by brothers Jean Pierre & Luc Dardenne and set in their native Wallonia part of Belgium, poorer than the Flemish north of the country and hard hit by the post-2008 recession. It is the complete antithesis of the Hollywood movie: slow and deliberate with no special effects or action sequences.

A small company has a vote of its workforce which decides that it would rather all the staff receive a bonus than take back a female colleague who wishes to return to work after a bout of depression. The woman at the heart of this moral dilemma is Sandra, played by the talented French actress Marion Cotillard, who has just a weekend to persuade her colleagues to change their mind. Essentially this is a film about solidarity - or lack of it - not just in the workplace but also at home and shows how different factors influence our decisions and how those decisions have consequences for ourselves and for others.