771 Two Days, One Night

Is it normal to be considered almost non-existent in the work place? I mean this is coming from Asia but I couldn't help but find Sandra's predicament to be more an uphill battle simply because... she seemed absolutely detached from majority of her co-workers. Considering how small the work place is and everything, I would assume she and the other co-workers would have more contacts rather than the haphazard figure it out along the way sorta method.

"The idea of a worker forced to bargain for her job not with management but with her fellow employees"

I just don't feel it really passes as strongly because... she feels absolutely dead to her fellow employees save a few that rather than just a matter bonuses or saving their own hide there is also the quandary that she is practically a stranger to most of them -- many don't exactly recognize her for instance that it almost appears to be a first meeting.

Which is another thing I guess I wish the film explored in that rather than simplifying the anti side as being those in dire need as many of them make out, it would have been better had they brought up Sandra's own performance -- only Julienne and Timur does I believe but only touches upon it briefly. Though I guess this does seem difficult to happen since again she is very detached from her co-workers. I get that it is implied but at times it is brushed off enough that it makes the film feel leading that the argument just simmers down.

I did find the film engaging enough but I never seemed to get that "oomph" or x-factor because it just didn't feel as engaged at times as there just wasn't much rapport going on with the co-workers, which again can be attributed to the lack of relations. Not that I'm asking for more drama to stir but something less clean if you would call it that; I'm just thinking of Rosetta here. It just doesn't argue with itself as much, yes there are arguments but they're so quickly and cleanly resolved. Something along the lines of was it that worth it to hire her back, was she truly fit or capable of work? We catch glimpses of it here and there, with her constant pill popping that culminates in her attempted suicide, but for most part the film makes us forget that or brings our sympathies back to her with the encouragement she is given through out; so that you don't come across questioning too much if there was more to it than simple politicking.

I definitely like the film its a good solid film: complex, engaging, and compelling for a drama. It has a wonderful economy in the story telling and control over the scenes, even the most over the top ones never seem to go entirely overboard. I just wish it wasn't as resolved as it was -- the ending is nice and all but again I just feel it resolves many things too quickly rather than even just leaving them unanswered.

I'm just curious since it seems so many accept this that I wonder if this is just how work places are over there or is this just really the plot being somewhat contrived?

adavis53 · #31 Post by **adavis53** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 7:34 am

SpoilerShow

There are three factors that go into her detachment from her coworkers: The first is her workplace itself - the brief glimpse we get of it reveals it to be a solar panel factory/plant, so by the design her job is pretty isolating and she doesn't get a lot of opportunity to speak with her coworkers compared to the more compared to if she worked in an office. They're all relatively nonexistent to each other for most of the work day. The second is her struggle with depression - part of the film's strength is in its depiction of mental illness stigmas with the few of her coworkers who are particularly uncomfortable when speaking with her. Her "pill-popping" is likely an anti-anxiety medication or something similar to a Zoloft/Xanax. Similarly, her depression would prove to be further isolating as its not likely someone with her level of it would have much energy to socialize even within the workplace. And lastly, this depression also forced her to take the time off (I can't quite remember how long as I myself haven't seen the film in a year but its at least a few months) that creates the entire bonus/employment problem, so she hasn't seen or communicated with any of these people for quite a while; for the most part when she's showing up at their homes its the first time they've seen her in a significantly long period of time. So yes, its partly that these particular work places aren't the most communal of spaces, but its far more exacerbated by her mental health.

hangman · #32 Post by **hangman** » Tue Aug 04, 2015 2:13 pm

adavis53 wrote:
SpoilerShow
There are three factors that go into her detachment from her coworkers: The first is her workplace itself - the brief glimpse we get of it reveals it to be a solar panel factory/plant, so by the design her job is pretty isolating and she doesn't get a lot of opportunity to speak with her coworkers compared to the more compared to if she worked in an office. They're all relatively nonexistent to each other for most of the work day. The second is her struggle with depression - part of the film's strength is in its depiction of mental illness stigmas with the few of her coworkers who are particularly uncomfortable when speaking with her. Her "pill-popping" is likely an anti-anxiety medication or something similar to a Zoloft/Xanax. Similarly, her depression would prove to be further isolating as its not likely someone with her level of it would have much energy to socialize even within the workplace. And lastly, this depression also forced her to take the time off (I can't quite remember how long as I myself haven't seen the film in a year but its at least a few months) that creates the entire bonus/employment problem, so she hasn't seen or communicated with any of these people for quite a while; for the most part when she's showing up at their homes its the first time they've seen her in a significantly long period of time. So yes, its partly that these particular work places aren't the most communal of spaces, but its far more exacerbated by her mental health.

SpoilerShow

I think the problem with the whole "opportunity" to speak is that we only really catch a glimpse of the work place barely for some second on the background, which looks more or less like a standard factory production line. Then again I think it may have so brief that I don't feel it necessarily divulges enough to say either way, because aside that there just isn't much room in the actual factory itself if looking at the small spaces the employees have for themselves. Regardless, the small glimpses of the communal space don't seem all that prohibitive for interaction, since there isn't much to work with in the first place.

I'm not too sure if they are necessarily even all that aware of her state of depression, again I think this stems from how estranged she seems to her co-workers that they seem like strangers to one another. If anything I think the discomfort genuinely stemmed from the confrontation of having to explain, or run away, from their choice in the matter regarding their vote. Its not exactly a pleasant choice on their end, since it is ultimately they didn't have any malice towards her regardless of her health (they all understand the value of work and money).

Nobody really greets and asks whether she's truly recovered, or makes much of a gesture of really noticing that she was gone -- again only briefly we catch this with Julienne and Timur (but the former was more to dissuade her while the latter is probably genuinely aware of her health), or concern regarding that matter.

The only co-workers I assume that are more likely in the know regarding these matters -- aside the ones fighting alongside her at the start -- just brushed her off or refused to meet her altogether, which were the two women the one moving in with her new man and Nadine. Which is what hurt her most in that respect but that aside I think the rest were generally uninformed, unless threatened by the foreman to "convince" them such as the case of Timur. While there were those who only spoke to her via cell phone but I don't think they did so as a matter of trying to avoid her in as much as it was that they were doing extra work in the weekend as we saw.

I can understand the third point and do hold some disbelief because it certainly is an obvious go to why she is isolated but yeah I find the actual lack of how it affected her performance and relations prior, if there was even any at all, was not touched upon. I find though this just kinda neatly ties up the point at times that the debate just ends up simmering.

djproject · #33 Post by **djproject** » Wed Aug 05, 2015 6:45 pm

You all are naughty

(Yes, I was commenting on the spoiler tags. No, I did not read them. Yes, I realise that I have no humour whatsoever.)

barryconvex · #34 Post by **barryconvex** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 6:22 pm

Her "pill-popping" is likely an anti-anxiety medication or something similar to a Zoloft/Xanax.

not that it's all that important, and i understand your point but zoloft and xanax are two totally different medications. xanax is a heavy tranquilizer used to treat serious anxiety and/or people withdrawing from extreme drug or alcohol abuse and zoloft is used to treat garden variety depression and to a lesser extent some forms of mild anxiety. if she was popping zoloft all day she'd be bouncing off the walls. as it is with Cotillard's character taking xanax like jujubes (to borrow a phrase from lester bangs) it does bring up a different set of circumstances and also illustrates further how severe her breakdown must've been and how fragile she still is. it's obvious she's built up a pretty strong tolerance to the medication or else she'd be a zombie but it occurred to me that her current co-workers don't know about the extent of her dependence on it and it made me wonder how they would've voted if they had known...

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