Unspoken

Colour, 35 mm
Belgium, 2008, 95 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

Lukas and Grace live together in an apparently settled and satisfied relationship despite the fact that their 14-year-old daughter disappeared five years earlier without a word of explanation. During that time, they seem to have gotten over it, returning to a type of normality. Then several unexpected things happen – anonymous telephone calls, a girl in the subway – which rouse Lukas and Grace from their lethargy. But neither is able to confide in the other, and tension mounts between them. This highly intimate movie, dominated by the excellent performances of Emmanuelle Devos and Bruno Todeschini, is a psychological probe into isolation and the inability to share great pain. The story unfolds at a slow pace, just like it does for the protagonists after their daughter disappears. There is no need to hurry, or to try to do anything except survive what happened. The movie was screened at the Toronto festival and in the Zabaltegi section at San Sebastian.

About the director

Fien Troch (b. 1978, Belgium) graduated from the Sint-Lukas Brussels University College of Art and Design where she is now a professor. In addition to features, she also directs commercials and theater plays. In 2000, she acted alongside Isabelle Huppert in Saint-Cyr by Patricia Mazuy. Several of her shorts were awarded at international festivals: Verbrande aarde (1998), Wooww (1999), Maria (2000), and Cool Sam and Sweet Suzie (2001). In 2005, she feature debuted with the movie Someone Else’s Happiness (Een ander zijn geluk), screened the following year in the Forum of Independents section at the KVIFF. Unspoken is her latest film.