R… Ne Répond Plus
Belgium, 1981, 52'
A film of transition from cinema as a possible way to transform testimony into memory to a means of questioning the present. The political word, its meaning between past and present, still lie at the centre: in the early eighties, the Dardennes listen to and follow the free radio stations phenomenon. They thus decided to make a documentary on the different broadcasting stations of Italy, France, Switzerland, and Belgium. Among the Italian ones we find Radio Popolare and Radio 105. Different planes are analysed: the radio managers, the audience of listeners, and an outsider opinion to put what is happening in perspective (in the same manner as Godardian political cinema). The outcome is not the most reassuring: within the cacophony of languages and voices, more than utopia the filmmakers detect the problematic nature of speech that actually detaches from official information. In the ending, noise wins over speech. “R” who is no longer answering is “reality” that has gone missing from the ground where a political, ethic, and social dialogue could have taken place.
Local Time
- Timezone: America/New_York
- Date: 07 Nov 2022
- Time: 11:30
Location
- Cinema Stensen - Viale Don Giovanni Minzoni, 25c, 50129 Florence
Organizer
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Jean-Pierre e Luc Dardenne
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne are Belgian directors, screenwriters and producers. After studying drama, Jean-Pierre, and philosophy, Luc, the Dardenne brothers shot their first militant works, filming social struggles in Belgian working-class neighbourhoods. In the late 1970s, they founded film production companies and made their first documentary films, including Lorsque le bateau de Léon M. descendit la Meuse pour la première fois (1979), Pour que la guerre s'achève, les murs devaient s'écrouter (1980), R... ne répond plus (1981), Leçons d'une université volante (1982) and Regard Jonathan/Jean Louvet, 231 (1983). In 1996 their third fiction film, La Promesse, was presented at the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes, but it was not until 1999 that they gained international recognition with their first Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival with the film Rosetta. In 2005 they won their second Palme d'Or with L'Enfant - A Love Story and in 2008 The Silence of Lorna, dedicated to the theme of illegal immigration and white marriage, brought them the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Among their most recent works, The Kid with a Bike won the Special Jury Grand Prix at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, and Tori and Lokita, Special Prize at the Cannes Film Festival 2022.
