Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

The Unknown Girl Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 2, 2017

Nominated for the Palme d'Or Award, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's "The Unknown Girl" a.k.a. "La Fille Inconnue" (2016) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Curzon Artificial Eye. The only bonus feature on the disc is an original trailer for the film. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The young doctor

The film is set in the town of Saraing, Belgium, where the young Dr. Jenny Davin (Adele Haenel, Water Lilies) routinely sees patients who barely make ends meet. She does her best to help them, but most of the time she has to refer them to a different facility where they can get the proper care they need. She likes what she does, but there are times when the job seriously overwhelms her and she has to make compromises that later on she regrets.

At the end of one such exhausting day Jenny makes a decision that has a profound impact on her life -- moments before she exits her office someone rings the bell but she refuses to answer. On the following day, she is contacted by detectives and informed that a young black girl was found dead across the street from her office. Driven by a frequently suffocating sense of guilt Jenny decides to find out more about the girl, but soon after enters a parallel world that gradually forces her to reevaluate her entire life.

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s latest effort, The Unknown Girl, has the stylistic appearance and atmosphere that typically make their films great, but this time the end result feels somewhat underwhelming. The social message that emerges at the end also feels a bit too simplistic and ultimately quickly fades away.

I attended a theatrical screening of The Unknown Girl last year and my initial reaction was that it was meant to fit somewhere between Lukas Moodysson’s Lilya 4-Ever and Michael Haneke’s Cache but without creating the big ripple effects that emerged after their premieres. I felt that the Dardennes wanted to emphasize the nature of the dilemmas that the young doctor faced, rather than target anyone (or an institution) that they might feel is responsible for them. And indeed, for the most part the relentless intensity that defined the Dardenne’s early work is missing here because now there are moral and even philosophical issues that overshadow the human suffering. In other words, there is a slight shift in the direction that the Dardennes have chosen and perhaps even the type of genre material they seem willing to experiment with.

The problem here is that The Unknown Girl promotes the same old one-dimensional view of life in the European Union. So the rights and wrongs are effectively predetermined by the Dardennes and the entire social system is essentially oversimplified in a way that allows them to deliver a number of their familiar points.

Haenel is very good as the young doctor and it is probably only a matter of time before she lands a bigger role that will make her an international star.

The Unknown Girl Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's The Unknown Girl arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Curzon Artificial Eye.

The film was shot digitally by the Dardennes' regular cinematographer, Alain Marcoen, and I have to say that it has the rather familiar clean, sharp, and slightly cool appearance the majority of their recent projects have. In terms of depth and clarity there really isn't anything to be unhappy with; the bulk of the outdoor daylight footage looks exceptional, while the well-lit indoor footage has is terrifically balanced. During the darker nighttime footage some very minor fluctuations exist, but the hand-held camera movement and the manner in which light is captured are responsible for them. My one and only criticism here pertains to the manner in which the disc is encoded. It appears that brightness levels are slightly elevated because the gamma input isn't adjusted, but this is an issue that your player should automatically correct. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Unknown Girl Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

It is not a surprise that the original soundtrack has a limited dynamic amplitude. The Dardennes typically shoot their films without elaborate music scores and special effects so that they can preserve as many organic sounds and noises as possible. So in addition to the exchanges between the various characters that step in front of the camera there is only traffic noise and the occasional random sounds that may pop up here and there. Depth and clarity are outstanding.

The Unknown Girl Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for The Unknown Girl. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min).

The Unknown Girl Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Dardennes' latest film enters a very familiar territory where it should feel at home, but I was not particularly moved by its story. It promotes the same old one-dimensional view of life in the European Union that the Dardennes have had for years, and the more time passes by, the clearer it becomes that it has plenty of serious flaws. Nevertheless, if you enjoy their work, my advice is to find a way to see this film as Adèle Haenel is really good in it. RECOMMENDED.