By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne | Luc Dardenne
Starring: Cécile de France | Egon Di Mateo | Fabrizio Rongione | Jérémie Renier | Thomas Doret
Original language title: Le gamin au vélo
Country: belgium, france, italy
Year: 2012
Running time: 87
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1827512/
Bruce says: “The Dardennes are back with another tale of disillusioned youth. This time the subject child is Cyril (Thomas Doret) a child who has been dumped in an orphanage after his father Guy (Jérémie Renier) abandons him. Cyril’s first clue that something is amiss is the message that his father’s telephone number is no longer in service. Cyril is fixated on his bicycle and does everything he can to escape so he can go home to get it. After several aborted attempts, he finally is successful in leaving the orphanage grounds. When he gets to his apartment building he finds that his father is gone and learns that his bike has been sold along with the furnishings.
“When the orphanage director takes Cyril to a medical facility he tries to escape again and in doing so accidentally tackles a young beauty shop proprietor named Samantha (Cécile de France) who is in the waiting room. Several days later the director calls Cyril into his office and says, ‘The lady from the medical practice has your bike.’ It seems she overhead Cyril’s pleas and tracked down the new owner, buying the bike back as an act of compassion. When Samantha meets with Cyril he asks her, ‘Can I stay with you on weekends?’
“Thus begins a new relationship which is a roller coaster ride. Cyril’s bike gets stolen. He chases the kid who steals it into a wooded area where a local gang used an abandoned building as a meeting place. Cyril holds his ground fighting the gang and Wes (Egon Di Mateo), the leader takes Cyril under his wing. When Samantha sees them together she tells Cyril ‘I don’t want you to see him again.’ Samantha knows Wes’ reputation as ‘The Dealer.’ But Cyril pays her no mind. When Wes tells Cyril about ‘A job we could do together,’ it is clear that no good will come of it.
“Samantha, meanwhile, finds the whereabouts of Cyril’s father and takes Cyril to see his dad. Cyril thinks things are going well with his dad; however, Guy pulls Smantha aside and tells her he never wants to see his son again. Samantha takes Cyril back to his father and demands that Guy tell Cyril the truth.
“Wes and Cyril do a run through for a robbery – where to stand, how to knock the man down, which pockets to rifle, etc. – but things do not go as planned when Cyril does the real thing. The man he is robbing has a son who witnesses it all. Cyril is found out and is now at risk of losing his relationship with Samantha.
“THE KID WITH A BIKE is a wonderful portrait of a child whose tough exterior belies his emotional sensitivities. It is also a reminder the extent to which lessons in life can be painful and risky. Thomas Doret is marvelously inscrutable and makes Cyril’s impenetrability believable. Cécile de France (MESRINE: PUBLIC ENEMY #1, AVENUE MONTAIGNE, RUSSIAN DOLLS, L’AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE) is wonderful in a role that is unglamorous, tender and pragmatic. 4 1/2 cats”
Diane says: “Right now, my favorite filmmakers are the Duplass brothers and the Dardennes brothers. Maybe just for the symmetry of it all… It’s the last two who did KID WITH A BIKE, another story, for them, involving petty crime and broken families. You watch this kid’s potential disaster play out, but it’s kind of mild. (Compare the escalating tension of A SEPARATION.)
“KID’s look is more polished than other Dardenne films. And I gather they are using music for the first time: six notes from Beethoven’s 5th Piano concerto add poignancy to the kid’s long effortful ride through the streets of Seraing.
“My friend summed it up as ‘the power of unconditional love.’ But the film itself was not powerful enough to distract me from petty concerns (won’t they get ticks in those woods? shouldn’t he be wearing a helmet?). 3 1/2 cats
Thom says: “I am a fan of the Dardenne brothers from Belgium. They’ve on awards around the world and are deservedly greatly admired in the intellectual, international film community. From LA PROMESSE (1996) down through ROSETTA (1999), THE SON (2002), THE CHILD (2005), LORNA’S SILENCE (2008), & now this (are you digging that once every three years sequence) they’ve created a body of work that any serious film-maker would envy. They most remind me of Robert Bresson, the great French naturalist director because they confer their attention to mostly the underbelly of Belgian society, often using untrained actors. I usually get caught up in their films but this one, as beautifully done as it was centers on an 11-year-boy living in a state-run youth
center who has been abandoned by his despicable Father and later rejected by him after locating him in relentless pursuit. In a great act of charity a local hairdresser agrees to house him on weekends. While the filmmakers have gone to great lengths to make us feel pity for the boy there really wasn’t much to like about him as well. He was uncommunicative, violent, untrustworthy. The outcome has an unexpected side but generally I lost interest in him. 3 1/2 cats”
Toni says: “I would give this 5 cats personally…the characters and scenarios felt both realistic and surreal at the same time.
“A great bitter at times sweet at others tearjerker for me…my favorite of their films is certainly LA PROMESSE and they seem to like to have scenes of young people riding or running fast in their films…
“The moral of the story is to always lock your bike up.”
Peter H. says: “Having worked with troubled kids, I thought Thomas Doret’s intriguing portrayal of Cyril right on. Uncommunicative and angry, he trusts nobody after his abandonment, and Samantha, the local hairdresser is somebody he initially uses to find his father and with whom he can stay on weekends away from the orphanage. He has his guard up and uses his wiles to fend for himself. Not until the crisis occurring midway through the film, does Cyril realize that Samantha is truly worth his commitment.
“The problem I found with this film was with Samantha’s character. He met her randomly during a scuffle in the clinic waiting office where his father had an apartment. He certainly was not winsome and appealing in any way that would attract a perfect stranger to making the immediate attachment she took to Cyril. I wanted more motive and background on her. Without it, I inferred she was desperately lonely for a child despite her having a seemingly dedicated boy friend. I’d award this 3 1/2 cats”
Toni responds: “***POTENTIAL SPOILERS***
“I felt that same way initially with the Samantha character; however, I enjoyed the eventually transition of her character which shows the audience what a kid like that really needs. I had a personal experience as a child with a ‘Big Sister’ from an organization that initially met me alone and then started waning me to befriend her boyfriend to sort of build a family and broken family child does not want to go there so I never got another ‘Big Sister.’ I think the character learned that the boy wanted more of a one on one trust building first.
“Doret’s performance really was notable. I love the fact we both gave the same rating for completely different reasons, but you bring up brilliant points.”