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, Jean-Pierre , Jean-Pierre The Unknown Girl / Volume 22 , film genres, transna Volume 22. Spring 2021 • on the web 2021 • Spring 22. Volume The Unknown Girl ( La fille inconnue La fille inconnue fille La The Unknown Girl/La fille inconnue highlighted the ’ turn to the broadly- , such as the migrant and refugee crisis in Western Europe. Europe. crisis in Western , such as the migrant and refugee Keywords: postmodern spaces. neo-noir, tional cinema, French of première the After and Luc Dardenne, 2016) at , areview in and Sound defined noir genre. In particular, the main protagonist, general This article critically analyses that film genre a as 2016) Dardenne, Luc and Dardenne (Jean-Pierre operates through a transnational mix of references to the French and that these borrowings noir and neo-noir traditions. It argues references emerge from two key features in the Dardenne’s film: thefirstly, spatial dynamics of the postmodern city and its anony mous “lower depths”, and the secondly, articulation of so-called “ethnic hierarchies” (Vincendeau 2009) of the French neo-noir tra at these transnational connections that draw dition. It is precisely tention to the evocation of key issues and debates within connue Abstract Belgian Cinema (2019) as part of the Traditions in World in World the Traditions Belgian Cinema (2019) as part of Steele has University Press. Cinema series for Edinburgh bothchapters on and book articles published journal also Cinema. and French Belgian cinema French-language is Senior Lecturer in Film and Screen Studies at Bath Spa Screen Film and in Lecturer is Senior He has published a monograph, Francophone University. quarter

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La fille inconnue

The Spaces and Inequalities of the Noir Tradition the Noir Tradition and Inequalities of The Spaces in Identifying the UnknownIdentifying Girl

Jamie Nicholas Steele

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La fille incon atmosphere”, (Nectoux 2016, 43), Jamie Nicholas Steele Nicholas Jamie Volume 22 noirish Identifying the Unknown Girl Unknown the Identifying genre. For example, genre. as a “revenge noir” (James polar ] (Régnier 2016) resonates with concur in defining the film’s style film’s the defining in concur Le fils polar is “comme policier” un [like roman a An exploration of international film (2008) are imbibed with a certain a with imbibed are (2008) . Les Cahiers du Cinéma du Cahiers Les the typically French version of crime fiction crime of version French typically the La fille inconnue fille La polar – polar 1 La fille inconnue and American detective films. The notion of “polar mé “polar of notion The films. detective American and Le silence de Lorna polar refers to different noir traditions, on a range that includes tendency. James categorises tendency. As Nettelbeck outlines, it is common for auteurs in cine French Although the Dardenne brothers are most appraised for are the pro brothers Although the Dardenne – at some point in their career (2006, 34). Although Belgian, in the have they that said be certainly can it brothers, Dardenne the of case for the crime/ a certain predilection (2002) and ish that the link to 2016b, the 32), noir and tradition Mosley liesargues in the “class-based context of deprivation, substance abuse and so cial marginality [which] contributes to the lodramatique” [melodramatic the early terms afforded American to film noir in its nascent stage. context the in melodrama” “maritorious a of notion the offers Gates defining it as “a melodrama with a female American film noir, of desires, and goals her by driven narrative a centre, its at protagonist [where] moments of excess […] puncture the surface realism of text” the (Gates 2009, 29). This instructive proves in light of the impromp an as Davin Jenny on focus to choice brothers’ Dardenne tu investigator. the to turn to ma detective novel] in the same universe as “Agatha Christie” and the “bas-fonds de Liège” [lower depths] somewhat reminiscent of Georges Simenon (Fontaine 2016). In short, with the single ex ception of the review in of readings critical classification. genre through duction of films that articulate social concerns through Levinas’ ethics (Cooper 2007), this article that argues their film nue French practitioner Jenny Davin, was defined asWal “a sort of female lander” (James 2016a, 22) criticism returns more mentions of the Dardenne’s involvement with the transnational tradition of film noir and the crime genre: [police policière” enquête “une film the labels 36) (2016, Tobin Yan investigation], Nick James (2016b, 32) a “detective story” and Jus tin Chang (2017) a “carefully plotted thriller”. Fontaine’s review was perhaps most explicit in drawing links to genre filmmaking, positing that quarter

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. To characterize . To (1979) Jamie Nicholas Steele Nicholas Jamie Volume 22 polar ) – and the anthropol Identifying the Unknown Girl Unknown the Identifying La fille inconnue fille La 2 policier operates within the context ofcontext the within operates Série noire La fille inconnue. or polar La fille inconnue fille La , articulates the ‘lower depths’ of Belgian society and the ma the and society Belgian of depths’ ‘lower the articulates , This article analyses how the Dardenne brothers’ film, thetics reminiscent of the tradition of French this particular aesthetics, Phil Powrie brings up the “blackest of noir” Alain subsection Corneau’s of mise-en-scène is described as city-based (namely Paris), “dismal,” “nondescript,” and a “muddy wasteland” (Powrie 2007, 67-68). Ginette Vincendeau similarly articulates the French neo-noir’s ap that spaces” anonymous “bleaky the describing locations to proach form the “new lower depths” portrayed in contemporary French “ethnic hierarchies” (Vincendeau 2009, in 111) a noir context. This is approach nuanced contextual through and approach theoretical Vin 2007; Powrie 1998; Place 2009; (Gates tradition noir the to es – particularly within 2009) the French cendeau 2007; Vincendeau the as to (referred film crime ogyand spatial ofthe contextualises space better This 1995). (Augé in represented thematic noir tropes The Belgian ‘Lower Depths’ of mise-en-scène The a “noir sensibility” (Powrie 2007) ofand, anmore specifically, aes connue tradi noir the through crisis migrants contemporary the of issue jor popular a of use brothers’ Dardenne the by limned is film The tion. to the ‘place’ thatregards to tell an important story withfilm genre is provided to young Europe. migrants and refugees in Western the filmis highlightsThat to howsay, they live in the in-between and liminal spaces of the postmodern urban space. This article un by deploy to the spectator, articulated covers how these issues are ing textual analysis to close read the film’s mise-en-scène and how the character of the ‘unknown girl’ posits the persistence of recalling “the novels of David Goodis” (Mosley 2013, 124). The so cial context is crucial to these and references allusions to the noir particularly in relation tradition, to French As noir. Vincendeau contends, in France, “film noir serves as asocial rather thana ge 46). 2007, (Vincendeau purpose” neric social lens to shine a light on contemporary issues connected to for label a as used ‘noir’– term the so-calledThe depths’. ‘lower me that definition a transnational offers – films brothers’ Dardenne film cultures. European and American, French to diates references quarter

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and the “noir fille inconnue fille polar are essentially de are Jamie Nicholas Steele Nicholas Jamie Volume , the Dardennes lace, the Dardennes , the critic also usesthe critic , 22 Identifying the Unknown Girl Unknown the Identifying bas fonds ” and used by the authors to La fille inconnue fille La La fille inconnue to describe the locations visited by de to describe the locations visited roman noir, roman bas fonds century th that the working-class and industrial heritage of seem rather to operate – to adopt Augé’s terms seem – rather atto operate – to adopt hints at this dialogue with the Space and crime are joined and, together through anonymity, In José Fontaine’s review of therefore, therefore, pose questions in light of Augé’s (1995) “supermoderni eponymous the instance, For capitalism. late and ty” 2016) (Fontaine anonymously] [buried anonymement” “inhumée on the site of nondescript spaces in the industrial wastelands of is places these of ephemerality The (Wallonia). Belgium Southern unknown the of location the to given glance fleeting the by evinced Augé As girl’s body on platform a beside concrete the Meuse river. one of the most vivid and recognisable landscapes in international coheres space of articulation particular This 2017). (Chang cinema” as hint Augé’s notion of “non-places” (1995). with However, Marc 2016; (Feuillère interviews in Dardenne Luc and Jean-Pierre by at ed of spaces urban the 2016), Pluijgers 32-34; 2016b, James 2016; Gilson La fille inconnue fact, In place”. “anthropological and “non-place” of intersection the about interviews their in suggested repeatedly have filmmakers the La fille inconnue locales anonymous and non-descript represent spaces urban the (Feuillère Gilson 2016; James 2016b, 32-34; Pluijgers 2016).2016; ered” (Vincendeau 2009, 111). In 111). 2009, (Vincendeau ered” together a depiction of the “lower depths” of both the classical ur on emphasis an with particularly traditions, noir ‘neo’ the and ban wastelands, Internet cafés, construction areas and the use of night-time cinematography. the concept of the of discussion (2017) Chang’s Similarly, Liège. in Davin Jenny tective La fille inconnue sensibility”, by stating that the Dardenne films “have turned this into zones construction and apartments nondescript of world small neo-noir (Vincendeau 2009, The 111). fined as the “the lower underbelly depths of portrayed society,” in novels French the “from early modern period and onwards in par ticular in the 18 poor the cities, big the of margins the on “those of reality the expose and the criminals” (Vincendeau 2016, 42). It is within the afore 111) 2009, (Vincendeau spaces” anonymous “bleakly mentioned denizens the between connection “the that Paris postmodern of of the lower depths and the ordinary population has been sev quarter

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Jamie Nicholas Steele Nicholas Jamie Volume 22 Identifying the Unknown Girl Unknown the Identifying located in Liège’s red-light district. Jenny’s exploration of the the of exploration Jenny’s district. red-light Liège’s in located To further stress the film’s noir sensibility, Jenny drives to a to drives Jenny sensibility, noir film’s the stress further To reclaim her name. The image is proliferated, but the deeper mean ing and individual story is not explained. café a in murky of darkness, and Liège, reveals seedy shrouded areas the of reminiscent is that 41) 2007, (Vincendeau iconography” “noir French noir tradition. At the time of the film’s production (around 2015), the choice of setting this sequence in an Internet café was al smart phone. This is the single virtual image that is left of picture the harrowing un a is it and spectator, the and Jenny for girl known of fear and panic that evokes the images of the refugee crisis theof and combination The platforms. media across dissemination their eponymous ‘unknown girl’, the mysterious death, and the river represents the plight of young migrants attempting to cross the Med the and Kingdom United the to France from Channel English iterranean from North Africa to Spain, and Italy, Greece, as also people these of deaths The 4). 2016, (Denis filmmakers the by noted are reported across news platforms as numbers, and the Dardenne to attempting by issue this to attention drawing is film brothers’ river. As attested by the conversation between Jenny and the craneAs river. Jenny initially findsoperator, it difficult locateto the precise site of the unknown girl’s death. The camera pays little attention to this empty location – merely a concrete platform with no police tapefurthis and – found was body the where indicate to evidence or ther consolidates the notion that individuals can simply disap iden and lives previous their of trace any leaving without pear tities. What is most salient for Jenny is that – in the context of postmodernity or “supermodernity” – the physical trace is not of what was once a human with only digital footprints left present, being: a snapshot of a recording from her CCTV system on her contends, “non-places are there to be passed through, they are in measured units of time” As (Augé the 1995, crane 104). operator block on which thetook states the to concrete Jenny Davin, a barge riverbank. the on day the in earlier found was body girl’s unknown river the is a beside place site emptied The of its significance. The both runs that motorway the on traffic passing of noise incessant sides of the Meuse (Feuillère 2016), and the power tools from the construction site, further exacerbate this and ephemerality, the the beside site the to attached in-between-ness and transit of sense quarter

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Jamie Nicholas Steele Nicholas Jamie Volume 22 Identifying the Unknown Girl Unknown the Identifying (the arranged marriages). marriages). arranged (the retains the telephone booth in a 21 the telephone retains Lambert [Lambert’s son] under a rail a under son] [Lambert’s Lambert fils Le silence de Lorna Le silence de portrays “an abstract, generic [and grim] noir La fille inconnue polars . The industrial complex seen through the steel plant in the The postmodern urban spaces are depicted as industrial waste ville’s films, Vincendeau (2003, 146; 2007, 43) contends that the mise- the that contends 43) 2007, 146; (2003, Vincendeau films, ville’s en-scène of his this sequence space”. and Similarly, the mid-shots of the two char acters – with a primary focus on the body of Jenny Davin – offer abstraction through the lack of specific signifiers. The only code of night- is meeting this of point the at absent is that aesthetics noir the mobile cramped the of interior the However, cinematography. time the of conventions the evokes and darkness with laced is home filmed in Liège, such as such Liège, in filmed lands that are inherently anonymous. The scene in which Jenny unnamed the meets Davin bridge on the outskirts of the industrial town is an example cellence fall has that landscape post-industrial a of image an is background mobile The committed. are actions seedy where disrepair, into en homes, the underpass with its shuttling traffic and the abandoned, a notion of proffer instead, and, specificity, eschew houses boarded transit and Speaking ephemeral of temporality. Jean-Pierre Mel Unused by locals, they are only utilized by pimps, gangsters and and gangsters pimps, by utilized only are they locals, by Unused coerced refugees) and migrants (namely individuals vulnerable activities criminal for café Internet the of front The prostitution. into Internet-enabled devices, or on those who do not have also preys fam to speak to calls long-distance for telephones the use to intend message, social a conveys sequence the way, this In members. ily notion and of evokes (2009, “ethnic Vincendeau’s 111) hierarchies” shorthand a as represented is Liège fact, In tradition. neo-noir the in for crime. The young refugee and her sister work as prostitutes within Belgium’s black market in order to make a living. This is a market that has previously been exposed in other Dardenne films ready ready incongruous, given the proliferation of phone and Internet However, everywhere. available already devices and connectivity images of telephone boxes in bars, cafés and nightclubs populated by criminal gangs are a recurrent feature in American film noir as 2003, well 145; as Vincen in noir French and neo-noir (Vincendeau deau 2007, 37). century context, attesting to The its row hybridity. of telephone booths and computers provide a front to criminal activities, just as in the nightclubs American and noir bars films. of and both French quarter

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Jamie Nicholas Steele Nicholas Jamie Volume 22 Identifying the Unknown Girl Unknown the Identifying La fille inconnue fille La is deliberate, as indicated by Feuillère (2016). The The (2016). Feuillère by indicated as deliberate, is For Tobin (2016, 37), the urban space of of space urban the 37), (2016, Tobin For archy [that] archy is still in place in the new criminal world (Vincendeau 2009, For 110). the Dardennes, the choice to shoot in the Seraing area demonstrates that the filmmakers have consistentlyrepre sented “the poor and disadvantaged and, in the particular, fate of par is references noir the of use The 32). 2016b, (James immigrants” ticularly instructive in terms of how the film evokes aspects of the of contemporary a global particu the crisis representation through lar As cultural Place the context. argues, style of film noir indicates girl’s name thanks to her sister who finally speaks, the traffic comes traffic the speaks, finally who sister her to thanks name girl’s “isolation”, “solitude”, of experience This 2016). (Feuillère halt] a to and the “brutality of the everyday” (Feuillère 2016) in the urban space is linked to the plight of individuals, who live anonymously as discussed in the following section. amongst the city’s margins, Inequalities in the neo-noir tradition Alongside the articulation of place and Dardennes’ mise-en-scène is space the question of “ethnic hierarchies” set up by the (Vincendeau 2009, Vincendeau sums 111). up the inequalities por hier marked racially “a within present as neo-noir French in trayed by the individual in the non-places of neo-liberal late capitalism. Incapitalism. late neo-liberal of non-places the in individual the by interviews, the filmmakers contend that the choice of the spaces in inconnue fille La non- the and doctor’s the surgery of sound ambient the for purpose […] quotidien du brutalité “la of evocative is traffic fast-paced stop, nor a life, everyday of brutality [the pittoresque” sans ordinaire un mality deprived of any picturesque aspect] (Feuillère 2016). This hostile environment is, according to Luc Dardenne, relieved at the film’s dénouement: “on peut dire que lorsqu’elleretrouve le circula nom la parler, vient qui soeur cette à grâce inconnue, fille cette de tion s’arrête” [we could say that when she finds out the unknown tradition even without the use of sophisticated lighting set-ups and set-ups lighting sophisticated of use the without even tradition are vices and actions characters’ The cinematography. contrast high placed in a sinister and exploitative context, underground consoli position under a rail bridge.dated by its literal a “configuration de l’espace qui entourne et isole les personnages” [a configuration of space that surrounds and isolates the charac land postindustrial this within characters the of isolation The ters]. experienced “solitude” the to reference Augé’s with resonates scape quarter

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promesse promesse La fille inconnue fille La Le Monde La promesse La fille inconnue Jamie Nicholas Steele Nicholas Jamie Volume 22 Identifying the Unknown Girl Unknown the Identifying two decades later” [“les malfrats de malfrats [“les later” decades two La promesse, La promesse, 3 , vingt ans plus tard”] (Sotinel 2016, 17). La , vingt ans plus tard”] , 1996). A review in the French newspaper French the in review A 1996). , The plight of migrants and refugees who arrive in Belgium with Belgium in arrive who refugees and migrants of plight The The “Getting the Voice Out” project – a blog initiative focused on focused initiative blog a – project Out” Voice the “Getting The out identification papers to search for a better life, but only to suffer to only but life, better a for search to papers identification out abuse, exploitation and neglect by men in the local community is films, brothers’ Dardenne the of another in exposed Promise of father, and son characters, Lambert two the prets of crooks “the as promesse tation and to report the resistance actions they organize in those those in organize they actions resistance the report to and tation prisons” – is particularly instructive to contextualise the film (Get about information reports website The 2019). tingthevoiceout.org the status of refugees and migrants that have moved to and from Belgium, and those who have died either during their journeys, or killed buses, and cars by over run centres, detention in suicide from during confrontation with police, or found deceased on railway tracks, in rivers or somecanals. ofSignificantly, the information for the deceased, such as their names and identities, is incom Af from refugees primarily they are appears that if it plete, even rican countries. ence on self-interest and phobic nationalisms. As De Cleen ence and et on phobic al. self-interest nationalisms. debate the on immigration Belgium, in “has been observe, domi as natedrefugees of bydiscoursea influx recent the that constructs suffered crisis a as than rather crisis European or Belgian, Flemish, a by people fleeing war and other hardships” (De Cleen et al. 2017, of ‘crisis’ interpretation that the emerges in media Moreover, 66). representations shows story victims’ the with engagement little and background. in Belgium, aimed to “get the voice of the detain detention centres depor and detention their of conditions the on us inform to out, ees a “homogeneous cultural attitude, and is only possible during an isolated time period, in a particular place, in to response a national rep a as style noir a of use The 50). 1998, (Place kind” some of crisis of resentation crisis is particularly poignant in particularly because of its focus found on dead a in migrant body, an anonymous place without identification papers. Rather than a Belgiumreadingof critique a as i.e. centred– context national its on Western Eu – the film evokes a clear criticism of, generally, more rope’s stance on immigration and the refugee crisis, with its insist quarter

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polar genre and the neo- genre Jamie Nicholas Steele Nicholas Jamie Volume 22 polar La fille inconnue Identifying the Unknown Girl Unknown the Identifying marks a return to the earlythe to return a marks La fille inconnue, La promesse promesse La inconnue, fille La intersects with the intersects with the La promesse La promesse La fille inconnue fille La 4 debate in France in the late 1990s, in As Jean-Pierre Dardenne argues, in the film the question of “Eu This is not to say that disappeared woman, found beside the waterway, nuances a media woman, found disappeared beside the waterway, im today’s of victims the individualise to needs that representation migration policy. Conclusion By analysing the film in the context of the noir tradition, the film’s intricacies – such as its socio-political con in debates key to contributes film the how show to tried have I – text world’ and ‘of its world’ at the time of its production. world’ and ‘of its world’ at the time rope’s treatment of immigrants” (James 2016b, 32) is articulated the through inclusion of a young girl who is “found dead, without immi of questions the all with resonates it so water, beside papers, gration and all the people who die in these circumstances” (James addressing concerns, wider out calls film the way, this In 34). 2016b, and exploring them in a way that connects with contemporaneous spectators. It poses ethical and moral questions through the explo ration of key social and political issues in contemporary Western young, the of identity and name the of search Davin’s Jenny Europe. stages of asthe a Rather, filmmakers’ “narrative career. of racism simi discernible the on insists it 313), 2005, (Higbee exclusion” and of those belonging to larities ethnic in minorities the thattreatment abuse, graves, unmarked i.e. time, of period whole this along persist more a on Although, films. both in represented are exploitation and nuanced thematic level, the articulation of “ethnic hierarchies” sur concerns similar with concomitant is 111) 2009, (Vincendeau the of industry film French the of tradition neo-noir the in facing operatesfilm brothers’ Dardenne the point this At 2000s. and 1990s the ‘within definitely being genre, of hermeneutics the beyond well produced contemporaneously with the emergence of emergence the with contemporaneously produced Like 1990s. late and mid the in films noir was also released at a critical time in the debate about the position of migrants and refugees in Belgium and Europe Western as a while whole. In particular, piers of the unknown girl coheres with the representation of the ‘disap peared ones’ in European media at the time of the recent migrant crisis. and refugee quarter

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Jamie Nicholas Steele Nicholas Jamie Volume 22 https://www.latimes. Identifying the Unknown Girl Unknown the Identifying , 11 (2), August 2017: 66- . It argues that the borrowings the borrowings that . It argues , October 11, 2016. Accessed July ) to also articulateso transnational polar Film-Philosophy . Cinergie.be La fille inconnue edited by Melani Barlai, Birte Barlai, Melani by edited , October 5, 2016, 5. Non-Places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Su to an Anthropology Non-Places: Introduction The Migrant Crisis: European Perspectives and Na The Migrant Crisis: European . London: Verso. drawing on transnational noir tropes and generic refer https://doi.org/10.3366/film.2007.0011 Migration.” In Migration.” moral mystery with ‘The Unknown Girl’.’’ ber 14, 2017. Accessed July 27, 2019. com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-unknown-girl-review- 20170914-story.html Dardenne Brothers.” 87. Cri ‘Refugee the “Constructing 2017. Vandevoordt. Robin and sis’ in Flanders. Asylum Adaptations Continuities and on and permodernity tional Discourses tional Verlag Lit Zurich: 59-78. Rhomberg, Markus and Griessler, tina GmbH & Co. KG Wien. Culture La Libre frères Dardenne.” Denis, Fernand. 2016. “La culpabilité positive selon les Dardenne.” Dardenne.” les selon positive culpabilité “La 2016. Fernand. Denis, Anne. Feuillère, 2016. “‘La fille inconnue’ – Rencontre avec les Chang, Justin. 2017. “The Dardennes concot a mostly compelling Sarah. Cooper, 2007. “Mortal Ethics: Reading Levinas with the De Cleen, Benjamin, Jan Zienkowski, Kevin Smets, Afra Dekie, nates with Vincendeau’s analysis of the “ethnic hierarchies” that in emerge the noir tradition in cinema. French This in results inconnue ences (primarily from the West across shared are that crisis) migrant the as (such concerns cial as a whole. ern Europe References 1995. Marc. Augé, contemporary Western European cinema, contemporary Western namely the problem of “ethnic hierarchies” (Vincendeau 2009, and 111) the migrant and refugee crisis. This short article highlights that, by drawing on noir the notion tropes, of anonymity permeates both the spatial and the matic continuities of from the noir tradition produce an urban space that resonates with Augé’s “non-places” in addition to evoking contemporaneous is sues and debates that highlight the inequalities at that play are in Europe. The Dardennes’ treatment of these Western issues reso quarter

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, 61 (3), Fall Focus Vif A Journal of De Journal of A Sight and Sound Cahiers du Cinéma Sight and Sound Jamie Nicholas Steele Nicholas Jamie Volume 22 Women in Film Noir Women . Women in German Year Women Identifying the Unknown Girl Unknown the Identifying , October 6, Accessed 2016. . , October 5, 2016. Accessed Jan Journal of Film and Video Film Journal of . La revue toudi La revue https://www.larevuetoudi.org/fr/story/ The cinema of the Dardenne brothers: responsible responsible The cinema of the Dardenne brothers: in French Cinema since 1980.” since Cinema French in http://www.ungrandmoment.be/interview- , edited by Abingdon: Susan 293-327. Hayward, https//doi.org/10.1353/jfv.0.0036 polar https://www.cinergie.be/actualites/la-fille-incon New York: Wallflower Press. Wallflower York: New , 24 (2), Winter 2006: 31-44. , 24 (2), Winter , Vol. 24: 1-25. , Vol. based-in-belgium-8-july-2019/ 28, 2019. re et Luc Dardenne.” No. 726, October 2016:.43. The fence? tection Ann Kaplan, 47-68. London: BFI. edited by tember 30, 2016, 18-22. Routledge. 26 (12), December 2016: 32-34. Hoffmann’s ‘Mademoiselle Scuderi’”, book realism. based in Belgium.” Accessed July July 9, 9, 2019. 2019. www.gettingthevoiceout.org/death-at-the-border-of-an-ex ile- Un Grand Moment de Cinéma uary 10, 2021. jean-pierre-luc-dardenne/ In 1992-2004.” – II part postmodern, the of age ma’s tional Cinema nue-rencontre-avec-les-freres-dardenne September 1, 2019. critique-la-fille-inconnue-de-jean-pierre-et-luc-dardenne with a Female Detective.” 2009: 24-39. (7), July 2016: 18-22. Gettingthevoiceout.org. Gettingthevoiceout.org. 2019. “Death at the border of an exile Dardenne.” Luc & Jean-Pierre “Interview: 2016. Nicolas. Gilson, cine French voices: of multiplicity a “Towards 2005. Will. Higbee, Fontaine, José. 2016. “Critique: ‘La Fille inconnue’ de Jean-Pier “Critique: ‘La Fille inconnue’ Fontaine, José. 2016. Gates, Philippa. 2009. “The Maritorious Melodrama: Film Noir Nettelbeck, Colin. 2006. Dissolving “A Genre, or a Cultural De in In Film 1998. Noir.” “Women Place, Janey. Pluijgers, Jean-François. 2016. “Disparue sous X.” James, Nick. 2016a. “Cannes Hall of Mirrors.” Woman.” James, Nick. 2016b. “Identification of a Anita. 2008. “The McChesney, Female Poetics of Crime in E.T.A 2013. Philip Mosley, Nectoux, 2016. Gaspard. “La Fille Inconnue.” quarter

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European Film Film European , June 28, 2019. Edinburgh: Edin Sight and Sound, Sight Jamie Nicholas Steele Nicholas Jamie Volume 22 edited by Mark Bould, Mark by edited Identifying the Unknown Girl Unknown the Identifying . The Guardian 2016. Directed by Jean-Pierre by Jean-Pierre 2016. Directed Neo-Noir, Neo-Noir,

, May 18, 2016. Accessed October https://www.theguardian.com/uk- Jean-Pierre Melville: An American in Par in An American Melville: Jean-Pierre 1996. Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne “Dardenne: “Dardenne: le tournant de la raideur.” Le Monde Le . Francophone Belgian Cinema. Francophone Belgian https://www.lemonde.fr/festival-de-cannes/arti , edited by Andrew 55-83. Spicer, Manchester: Man , October 12, 2016, 17. , edited by Andrew Spicer, 23-54. Manchester: Manchester Manchester: 23-54. Spicer, Andrew by edited , London: BFI. Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France: Les Films du du Films Les Belgium/France: Dardenne, Luc and Dardenne 35, 2016. Archipel Fleuve, and Luc Dardenne. Belgium/France/Luxembourg/Tunisia: Pro Touza Film, Samsa RTBF, Fleuve, du Films Les Eurimages, ductions, 1996. French Neo-Noir Cinema.” In Cinema.” Neo-Noir French Kathrina Glitre and Greg 103-117. London; Tuck, New York: Press. Wallflower November 2016: 42-49. (11), get stuck in indefinite detention.” Accessed July 1, 2019. news/2019/jun/28/britains-disappeared-indefinite-deten tion-refugee-tales Monde Press. University burgh tober 2016, 668, 36-37. is. Noir University Press. Film Noir Press. chester University specteur Davin.” 31, 2018. cle/2016/05/19/la-fille-inconnue-les-freres-dardenne-me nent-l-enquete_4921880_766360.html Wittenberg, Jonathan. 2019. “Britain’s Wittenberg, disappeared: how refugees Powrie, Phil. 2007. In “French neo-noir to hyper-noir.” Régnier, Isabelle. 2016. “La Fille Inconnue: docteur Jenny, in Sotinel, Thomas. 2016. Filmography La fille inconnue / The Unknown Girl. / The Promise. La promesse Vincendeau, Ginette. film2016. noir.” “French Vincendeau, Steele, Jamie. 2019. Jenny.” de Portrait inconnue: fille “La 2016. Yan. Tobin, 2003. Ginette. Vincendeau, In Film Ginette. Noir.” 2007. “French Vincendeau, Vincendeau, Ginette. 2009. “The New Lower Depths: Paris in quarter

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Jamie Nicholas Steele Nicholas Jamie Volume 22 Identifying the Unknown Girl Unknown the Identifying . 2008. Directed by Jean-Pierre by Jean-Pierre . 2008. Directed 2002. Directed by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne by Jean-Pierre 2002. Directed 1979. Directed by Alain Corneau. France: Prospectacle, Prospectacle, France: Corneau. Alain by Directed 1979. Dardenne. Belgium/France: Archipel 35, Les Archipel Films du Fleuve, Belgium/France: Dardenne. 2002. RTBF, Dardenne and Luc Dardenne. Belgium/France/Italy/Ger Red, Lucky Cinéma, France ARTE Fleuve, du Films Les many: 2008. RTBF, Gaumont, 1979. resolution (See: McChesney 2008). resolution In Francophone Belgian Cinema (Steele 2019, 59-64), I also explore the “spatial dynamics” of the Dardenne brothers’ films from La promesse to Deux Jours, Une Nuit, referring to Augé’s (1995) “non-places” in the with concerned primarily is chapter book The cinema. transnational that space urban the to flow and rhythm a create films the which in way pre The time. same the at transnational and recognisable locally both is The concept of the ‘impromptu investigator’ represents a typical char acterisation for female detectives in detective and crime fiction since its early stages in the A key 19th example century. is E. A. T. Hoffmann’s fe onward, point this From (1819). Scuderi de Mademoiselle novella, police the by institutionalised and formalised not are detectives male order and control, but and they systems are brought into of and law, a clear lead the narrative based on their own intuition to drive towards 2 Notes 1 Acknowledgements: Acknowledgements: The author thanks Bath Spa University for its financial support, Cinematek/ the at out carried be to research further enabled which my record on place to like also would I Archive. Film Belgian Royal gratitude to Professor Monica Dall’Asta for the help and guidance this article. I am also very thankful editing to the on two anony certainly which comments, useful their for reviewers peer mous New Paul helpedDr. to thanks further A toarticle. this strengthen stages. early its at draft this on feedback useful provided who land, Le fils / The Son. Silence / Lorna’s Le silence de Lorna Série Noire. quarter

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Jamie Nicholas Steele Nicholas Jamie Volume 22 Identifying the Unknown Girl Unknown the Identifying Higbee (2005) offers a clear and precise contextual overview of the sans the of overview contextual precise and clear a offers (2005) Higbee papiers debate in ofFrance. He posits that the “socio-political realities” “subjects such as immigration, racism, unemployment, exclusion and were and 1990s the of films French key in included were fracture” social further evidenced by the filmmakers’ involvement “in protests that 1997” (2005, 308). took place in February sent article focuses instead on reading the spatial dynamics as an evoca an as dynamics spatial the reading on instead focuses article sent tion of urban to spaces the in noir the tra noir tradition. The references dition are nothing new in Belgian cinema, as I have also argued in the (Steele 2019, 155-177). case of cracks the through fall refugees Guardian, The in reports Wittenberg As in the system and “there are other ways of disappearing: when you’ve got no voice; when even you if don’t, you or have, won’t,those around find the time to listenYou […] don’t go missing – only your files do” 2019). (Wittenberg 4 3 quarter

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