Manhattan
walk-up residents can all relate to Dr. Jenny Davin’s situation. We have all
ignored late-night buzzer-ringings, assuming they are wrong numbers or random
mischief. Tragically, when Dr. Davin ignores the doorbell at her practice after
hours, the women who rung subsequently turns up dead. Consumed with guilt, the
good doctor (which indeed she is), will try to uncover her identity in
Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne’s The
Unknown Girl
(trailer here),
opening this Friday in New York.
Dr.
Davin was having a bad day. When her patient starting seizing, her intern
Julien essentially froze. It was during their rather tense post-mortem of the
incident that the bell mysteriously rang. She will greatly regret that moment
of harshness for two reasons. According to closed circuit video footage, her
mystery caller is also the same woman whose body was discovered at a work-site
by the river. Regrettably, the absent Julien also informs Dr. Davin he is
quitting medicine.
With
the body due to be interned in a Potter’s field grave, Dr. Davin starts
investigating the presumptive murder, hoping to put a name to the body. Yet,
she still continues to see her patients, at least for the time being. Dr. Davin
gave notice to Dr. Habran’s practice largely serving the Belgian equivalent of
Medicare and Medicaid patients to join a tony practice catering Liege’s French
and Walloon elites. Arguably, her guilt over the Jane Doe just amplifies the
guilt she feels for leaving her regular patients, such as bratty young Bryan.
During the course of her house call (which she remarkably still makes), she
discovers the boy knows something about the deceased woman. Quickening pulses
are quite the giveaway. However, Bryan’s father makes it clear he will not
allow his son to get involved to any extent.
For
some reason, Unknown Girl has been
tagged as a rare dud from the lauded Dardenne Brothers, but it is a highly
compelling, realistically muddled morality play. It is probably the closest
they will get to a hardboiled noir, while staying true to their gritty,
neo-neo-realist aesthetics. Granted, the resolution of the “mystery” is not
exactly shocking, but in Liege’s immigrant quarter, they just don’t have the
time or resources for the kind of complex cyanide poisonings that would require
the attention of a Hercule Poirot (you know he was Belgian too).
The
film also benefits from a remarkable lead performance from Adèle Haenel, who
takes her craft to a higher level, following the inconsistent work in films
like In the Name of My Daughter and Love at First Fight that first made her
name. She vividly portrays Dr. Davin’s intelligence and conflicted ethical
compass, both of which are always interesting to see portrayed on screen.
Nearly the entire Dardenne company repertory players will turn up in small
supporting roles, but the two who really make an impact are Jérémie Renier and
Olivier Gourmet as Bryan’s father and the thuggish son of a possible suspect.
