not for kids
Lyrical and gritty French drama for mature viewers only.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Rust and Bone is an oddly beautiful combination of brutality and beauty that explores some very difficult subjects, including what it's like to lose your limbs, to not know how to be a parent, to be tossing around in a hard scrabble world with a young child you aren't equipped to raise, and how hard it is to tame a beast when the beast is yourself or someone you love very much. There's also full-frontal nudity (albeit briefly), quick flashes of intense sex scenes, swearing (in French with English subtitles), smoking, and drinking. Some fight scenes are bloody and gritty and show faces kicked and beaten to a pulp. But the film also has tons of hope and is made with great care and honesty.
- Families can talk about how Rust and Bone compares to American romantic dramas. Do Europeans have a different approach to the genre? Are there any commonalities?
- How does the movie portray the challenges of parenthood? Does it seem realistic? Is Ali a good father? Why or why not?
- Why do you think Stephanie is drawn to Ali, and vice versa? What do they have in common?
The good stuff
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Messages: Hope springs in the direst of places -- such as months after a horrific accident or when a person causes a loved one to lose her job. You might be in the depths, but there's always one sure way to go: up.
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Role models: Stephanie is a fighter and a survivor in more ways than one. Ali is rougher around the edges, but he does feel a compulsion to do better, even if he doesn't always know how.
What to watch for
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Violence: Fairly brutal, bloody beatings take place at secret fights where spectators egg the competitors on to hit and cripple one another. Teeth are lost, heads are bashed, bodies are bruised and battered. There's also a scene in which a whale crashes into a stand and, later, attacks its handler; there's blood in the water. Close-ups of wounds, injuries, and gashes. A man screams and grabs his child, and he accidentally hits his forehead on a piece of furniture. A child is shown as if he's drowning. A woman throws glasses at men in bars, cutting their faces. Men leer at her, eye her body openly, and say brazen, disrespectful things to her.
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Sex: Full-frontal nudity, with a man's genitals and a woman's pubic hair briefly shown. A man's backside is glimpsed often, sometimes while he's straddling a woman. A woman's breasts are shown both from afar and in close-up, sometimes during what appears to be sex. Quick flashes of intercourse (though genitalia aren't seen then).
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Language: Relatively infrequent use of words including "f--k," "s--t," "bitch," damn," and "a--hole." The words are said in French and subtitled in English.
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Consumerism: Some brands shown, but they're mostly French companies that may not be familiar to American audiences. More recognizable labels seen include Under Armour and Nike.
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Drinking, drugs and smoking: Some cigarette smoking and drinking, sometimes to the point of inebriation.
Fan Reviews provided by
5
WONDERFUL FRENCH FILM ABOUT CONQUERING LIFE'S CHALLENGES. AN AWARD CONTENDER. by Peneflix
A major perk of the movies is the opportunity to meet individuals that under normal circumstances you would never encounter; such is the case in ?Rust and Bone?. Two self-absorbed, struggling souls, meet in a club; ?Stephanie?, (Marion Cotillard) trains orcas (killer whales; largest of the Dolphin family) and ?Ali? (Matthias Schoenaerts) a bouncer, rescues her from an altercation resulting in one of the most unusual pairings in recent film...
Adversity can be a tool of destruction, bleakness, depression or the adrenalin to forge forward, spit in the face of unwanted havoc, delve into the bowels of one?s psyche, uncover the fortitude to thrive and survive. Stephanie and Ali succeed in championing the ?rust and bone? of their existence, alleviating the ache of their plight, different, but rewarded for the struggle...
FOUR & 1/2 STARS!!!!
***For full review please visit peneflix(dot)com!!!
5
miss MC by godstevies
Miss Cotillard is most aggressive in nature and is quite evident that she likes to take charge. She continues to rack up powerful performance after powerful performance.
5
Rust and Bone
Marion gives an absolutely amazing performance! Raw and genuine, the acting is so believable from all the cast you can feel everything! Loved this movie and highly recommend!
4
Matthias was great! vive la belgique! ;-)
Great movie! Being Belgian I was very curious to see Matthias performing in this movie. Both actors are amazing! Voting for the Oscars! And hopefully Matthias will be the next James Bond!
5
Rustr and Bone. by 13rfauriol
Excellent. Absolutely gripping and stays with you for days afterwards. I can't really understand how both the film and the actors were overlooked for Oscar nominations (much less awards).
4
Much, much better than I expected! by pedsarq
This is not just a movie about the relationship between a street fighter and a double amputee! This is a terrific love story between a young single father who manages to hold on to his son against incredible odds. He also has a relationship with a woman who lost both her legs and makes her appreciate life all over again. This is a love story, first, but it's also a story about being a father under extreme circumstance and about not giving up on life and all that it throws at you. There's plenty of material in this movie for both men and women to enjoy. In some ways, it's a "chick-flick", and yet there's enough fighting to satisfy the "guy film" criteria as well. Yes, it's in French with English subtitles. As far as that's concerned, all I can say is that once you get into the movie the subtitles fade and you just enjoy the film. In this case, I enjoyed it a lot!