L'Enfant (Belgium / France, 2005)

Directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have made interesting films together. The first film I saw from them, Rosetta, was about a girl living in a dysfunctional family and in a very unstable environment. This time, with L'Enfant, we see another unstable couple. Bruno is a theft who he steals whatever he can and this is his way of life. His girlfriend Sonia just had a baby called Jeremy. They have nowhere to live. One day, Bruno decides to give the baby for adoption, with his girlfriend's consent! When she finds out, you can imagine her violent reaction. She calls the police to sue him. Somehow Bruno gets the baby back, but he is now in deep financial problems with the people who hooked him up with the adoption process, because you see, it was all illegal. Not only that; after having stolen a purse from a woman on the street, he is being chased by the police. He has to make a choice between giving up stealing and going back to his girlfriend, or continue stealing in order to survive. The story is what makes it very interesting, as well as the excellent performances of the main characters. This movie won the Palme D'or at the Cannes Film Festival last year.