This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

I mainly found out about this Belgian-French-Italian film because of the leading actress being nominated during awards season, I had no idea what it was about, I was just hoping for something worthwhile, directed by brothers Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne (Rosetta, The Kid with a Bike). Basically in the industrial town of Seraing, near Liège, Belgium, Sandra Bya (Oscar nominated Marion Cotillard) is a young wife and mother to two children, she works for Solwal, a small solar- panel factory. After suffering a nervous breakdown, Sandra has been forced to take time off from her job, on medical leave for depression. During Sandra's absence, shop foreman and her immediate supervisor Jean- Marc (Olivier Gourmet) suggests to the boss, M. Dumont (Batiste Sornin), that her section of the company can function with sixteen people working full time with a bit of overtime. The management proposes a €1,000 bonus to all staff if they agree to make Sandra redundant, near the end of her medical leave she returns to work and discovers that her fate rests in the hands of her sixteen co-workers. Sandra's friend and co-worker Juliette (Catherine Salée) learns a "show of hands" vote was held, the result a 13-3 decision for the bonuses over Sandra's job, Juliette knows Jean-Marc is determined to get rid of Sandra. The vote was influenced by scare mongering through misinformation, but Juliette and Sandra at the end of the Friday working day are to convince Dumont to hold another secret ballot on Monday morning. Sandra needs a majority to keep her job, meaning nine votes, by Saturday morning, Sandra's supportive husband Manu (Fabrizio Rongione) convinces her that over the weekend she should speak to all thirteen of her colleagues who voted for the bonuses to get them to change their minds. They not only need the income from Sandra's job, but Manu believes the job is a symbol for Sandra, to prove her own self worth and for her mental state. Sandra reluctantly goes about this task, visiting and finding her colleagues one by one, most of the co-workers however need the proposed bonus for their own families. Finally it comes to Monday morning, the factory workers have a second ballot, but the vote is tied, with eight votes to keep the bonus and eight for Sandra to leave, as a result, Sandra will lose her position. However, the factory manager calls Sandra into his office, he agrees to give her a job, but in the end, she decides to turn it down, Sandra has found the emotional strength to deal with the situation and the confidence to start anew, to pursue a new life for herself. Also starring Pili Groyne as Estelle, Simon Caudry as Maxime, Alain Eloy as Willy, Myriem Akheddiou as Mireille, Fabienne Sciascia as Nadine and Timur Magomedgadzhiev as Timur. I can see why Cotillard was nominated the Oscar, she gives it her all as the ordinary working-class woman coming out of depression now on the edge trying to keep her job, it is a fairly simple humanistic story, the majority of which is just the leading character knocking on doors and talking to her co-workers about whether they will change their mind or not, but it is interesting enough to keep you hooked until the end, a worthwhile drama. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language. Very good!

Before seeing the French domestic drama "two days, one night" I was only cursorily familiar with Marion Cotillard's work. I am now richly informed.Likewise, little did I know that a movie about a blue collar wife and mother battling to keep her job as a rank and file factory floor worker could be enrapturing entertainment. Guess what? It can.Cotillard is completely credible in this Oscar-nominated performance as Sandra. She strikes nary a false note in a riveting turn as a woman struggling with severe depression as she strives to convince fellow employees to ditch their coveted bonuses so that she may continue to earn a living for her family and not be forced to take government handouts "on the dole". The fact that Cotillard, though a true natural beauty, went without any apparent make up for the bulk of the film only served to enhance the stark urgency and utter desperation inherent in her enormously daunting mission.And there is another aspect of "two days, one night" that especially appealed to me personally. As a big rock music fan, I found it delightful that the Belgian Director tandem of brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne chose to include in their production a pair of scenes which cleverly communicate the inherent spirit and emotion of the genre in very different manners. The pair of classic songs featured from legendary pop and rock icons Petula Clark and Van Morrison instill a sense both of pathos and frivolity into the complex fabric of this chronicle examining the fight for human dignity and destiny.Never one to surrender the specifics as regards an ending, I will simply impart that "two days, one night" arrived at a conclusion that is at once as reasonably realistic as it is distinctly hopeful.Or to put it another way......Success and satisfaction do not always come to us in the forms in which they are pursued.

Sandra, a young Belgian mother, discovers that her workmates have opted for a significant pay bonus, in exchange for her dismissal. She has only one weekend to convince her colleagues to give up their bonuses so that she can keep her job.This is not the sort of film that has amazing direction or incredible special effects. It is a straightforward plot driven by one of the best actresses in the business. Would you fire a co-worker if it meant that all your other co-workers would get a raise? And if you were the one being fired, would you fight to change their minds? Though not necessarily intentional, it is an interesting exploration of utilitarianism. On the face of it, it sure seems like a "greater good" for 9 out of 10 people to get a raise. But what of that one person? Do their feelings matter if statistically everything is better?

I am a very big Marion Cotillard fan, I consider her one of a very small handful of really great female actors working today. So it was quite a treat for me to see her in this movie. She is Sandra and while we don't get much back-story it becomes obvious as the movie unfolds that she has had some medical issues, mostly related to insecurity and depression, and has been off her job as a blue-collar worker in some sort of plant. The plant has been suing 17 workers so when she had to take a leave they had to do the job with only 16. However during that time they apparently found that they only needed 16, so Sandra didn't really need to go back to work when she was well.However Sandra and her husband, Fabrizio Rongione as Manu, really needed her extra income, they had two children and neither of the adults earned a lot of money. But there was a vote at work, if they hired Sandra back then there wouldn't be enough money for bonuses of about 1000 Euro for experienced workers.And that is what this whole movie is about, can Sandra over the weekend, two days and one night, convince her co-workers to take another vote on Monday and choose to let her stay on while they forego their bonuses. Sandra doesn't really want to go talk to each one but Manu urges her on, almost forcing her to do it. A big part of the story arc is Sandra growing in her confidence and learning to approach people constructively. We see that the mostly older workers sympathize with Sandra and are reluctantly willing to give up the bonus while the younger male employees get mad at Sandra for causing trouble. They want their bonus!While I enjoyed it because Cotillard really is that good, I also can see how many viewers could find the movie somewhat dull and tedious. It is a character study, mostly of Sandra but also of her husband and co-workers. The DVD from my public library has a good 'extra' where the actors discuss their roles and what the story means. SPOILERS: Monday comes and Sandra has done her best to get 9 votes needed out of 16 to keep her job. But it is split 8-8 and without a majority she is asked to clean out her locker. But the boss calls her in, he says when September comes he can let go a fixed term worker and re-hire her, but she says 'no' because she doesn't want someone else to lose their job because of her. She walks away, even with a small smile, she will seek work elsewhere.