LFF - Time Out Critics' Choice screening of 'L'Enfant'

Ben Walters looks back on a fine night in the company of the Dardennes.

Oct 27 2005

Greatest living Belgians Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne attended last night's LFF Time Out Critics' Choice screening of 'L'Enfant' – the film which netted the brothers their second Palme d'Or earlier this year at Cannes.

Following the screening at the Odeon West End, the Dardennes were greeted onstage by TO Senior Film Editor Geoff Andrew and revealed various aspects of the film's production, including the use of trained frogmen and London's own contribution to the production.

Set amid the drab dual carriageways, waterside shacks and emergency accommodation of contemporary Liège, 'L'Enfant' naturalistically follows young couple Sonja (Déborah François) and Bruno (Jérémie Renier) after the birth of their child, Jimmy, and Bruno's decision to sell him off for adoption.

Talking mostly through a translator, the brothers recalled the film's most challenging set-up, in which Bruno and a young accomplice hide in a freezing river. The boy had a slight build and when wearing a wetsuit – the scene was shot in November – was completely buoyant, so had to be tugged beneath the water by frogmen working on a specially-constructed underwater platform.

The Dardennes also revealed that Jimmy was played by several different infants and a fake baby, made here in London, for potentially dangerous scenes.

'L'Enfant' is scheduled for release on March 31 next year.

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