L'Enfant, take two

The movie at the Art Theatre right now, "L'Enfant," is the most recent film by the Belgian Dardenne brothers, who made "The Son" a few years ago. They make films with the most moral, Christian sensibility since Robert Bresson did 40 years ago, but the films are in no way religious.

Here is one paragraph of a review of "L'Enfant" from the New York Times. I'm sending it because it quotes Crime and Punishment. Also, wanting to know as little as possible about the movie before I saw it, I avoided reviews (even though the film had won the top prize at Cannes in 2005), but I couldn't help learning out of the corner of my eyes that it involved someone who sells his child. This is almost unbearable to watch. But it is a relief that the film does not follow a Hollywood suspense tradition; things are "resolved" rather quickly; and the main focus of the movie is not saving the child but about the character and psychology of the young man who thoughtlessly does the deed and the potential for his eventual redemption.

From the NYTimes critic Manohla Dargis: "Why make a film about Bruno? The same might be asked about Raskolnikov. Like Robert Bresson, whose "Pickpocket" informs "L'Enfant" and is itself a loose reworking of "Crime and Punishment," the Dardennes are not interested in passing judgment on a grievously flawed character; that's why God and Hollywood were invented. Since there is no moral ambiguity in the act of selling another human being, there would be no point in such judgment, other than to indulge in some self-satisfied finger-wagging. Rather, what interests the Dardennes — what invests their work with such terrific urgency — is not only how Bruno became the kind of man who would sell a child as casually as a slab of beef, but also whether a man like this, having committed such a repellent offense, can find redemption."

L'Enfant

In the scene in the water, when Bruno saves the his freezing 14-year-old accomplice, there are no edits. It's a continuous take that adds just the amount of authenticity and integrity that one would expect.

"L'Enfant" is of a piece with the other Dardenne movies, in particular a companion to "The Son." The Christian iconography in both films is unmistakeable, although I admit I missed the reference to a young couple and their newborn not having a place to stay for the night... The carpenter and his apprentice in "The Son" was more clearly obvious, although these movies do not evoke symbolism or sermons. They are thoroughly natural, like wood that has been carefully sanded with the grain.

I had avoided reading any reviews until I could see the film, despite the fact that it won last years (2005) Palme D'Or at Cannes. The year passed quickly and the film was worth the wait. From international headlines to a tiny art theatre screening room matinee with only four patrons, how soon the world forgets.

There's even a car and scooter chase. The mean streets are not scenic. But this film is for the ages as much as any Bresson.

Ed and I watched the movie the day after we saw "The Omen." "L'Enfant" was much more frightening, unnerving, unpredictable, and certainly more astute about the question of evil.

You want to contemplate evil in the world? The Omen is a cartoon, a remake of a cartoon at that. I still remembered lines from the first version. There is no way I'd have gone if it weren't that Ed is a horror movie fan and it was free popcorn night. I went to please him and I was glad when it was over and people had stopped talking on their cell phones and I was still licking the salt and caramel flavor from the bottom of my popcorn bucket.

Bohemianism, c'est moi

A poem by Edward Field.

Andrew Holleran

"You need the reality to spark you, because that's what you're responding to and that's what you're writing about," he said. "But you've got to fictionalize, too — to make the thing take off."

Mr. Holleran added: "Proust claimed that he had no imagination. And I think it's true in a sense. But on the other hand, he also said that he was against the literature of strict notation. He was infusing his reality with something else. I was relieved when I read that, because you always feel guilty as a writer for not imagining more."

John Howard Yoder

How does one examine the sexual misconduct issue as related to John Howard Yoder?

I know none of the details or gossip.  Is it wrong to be curious?

Such a topic is interesting in relation to the legacies of Clinton, Kennedy, and King; to one's personal sexual excesses and inadequacies; to the question of homosexual behavior; and to the religious right's obsession about sexual matters, including voting for "sexual morality" at the expense of a better social ethic of peacemaking, sacrifice, and servanthood...