Young Mothers has just gone on release in the United Kingdom, though, as might be expected for a foreign language film, it will probably only be shown in selected cinemas. The film premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival where it gained the award for best screenplay. It was also awarded the prize of the Ecumenical Jury at that festival. The press pack from the Cannes Festival, and the video of the press conference on the Cannes Festival website are both informative about the background to the making of the film. It is interesting to reflect that two brothers, now in their seventies, should turn their attention to a film about young, single mothers.
The film is well worth seeing. It holds the attention in the way in which it interleaves the stories of the five young mothers, including as each situation moves towards their respective outcomes. There is a certain frankness in the way in which, at different points in the film, you realise that a particular experience is being portrayed -and with five stories the questions raised in the experience of each of the young mothers are very different and very challenging. The supportive manner of the life of the home, both in terms of how the young people are shown helping each other out, and in the way in which the staff work alongside the young women to develop their skills, is something that is well portrayed and which attracted the Dardenne brothers as they made the film.
