I had a tough time with this one as it is very much centralized on the main character Cyril (The Kid) and I found him extremely annoying. I realize this is likely a very accurate portrayal of how young kids act when they are abandoned by essentially everyone, but I just found the kid to be an obnoxious, petulant brat and I could not sympathize. I also was not sure of the motivations of the lady in this film; why…

I'm just starting to get into the Dardenne brothers. I've only seen The Promise and then this film. I'm starting to realize how much impact they've had on film makers, especially other European directors. Their style of docu drama and subtle character studying is seen all over the place now. They didn't invent this style of film. Films like Battle of Algiers and Five Easy pieces did it decades ago. But with the Dardenne brothers they seem to have wittled…

I didn't know this was a movie by the Dardenne brothers until I saw their name pop on screen, which triggered my hype buzzer a little bit since I'm a big fan of their movie L'enfant. Although this is only the second movie of theirs I'm watching, I found many of the elements of L'enfant in this movie, which leads me to believe that they're part of the style of the Dardennes. One of the things I liked the most…

If there's any realism as deceptive as that of the Dardennes', I haven't seen it--nothing in the film would scream FICTION at you, but then you wonder what's keeping it watch-able and it becomes clear that the cinematic trickery at play isas exacting as any more flamboyant stylist. The primary concern is economics, and its seeming incompatibility with human goodness--capitalism seen as an ineffectual compliment to real human nature. Cyril keeps trying to keep his attachments with money, because of…

Classic films which The Kid with a Bike evoked: Bicycle Thieves for its unflinching realism, and of course its missing bicycle; The Red Balloon for its inanimate object imbued with a sense of wonder by a young boy; and The 400 Blows for its portrayal of a genuinely troubled youth coming to terms with his sins. But The Kid with a Bike is no mere pastiche, the Dardenne brothers weaving these elements together to create a concise, powerful, unsentimental tale…

Much like my reaction to the Dardenne brothers’ previous films, The Kid with a Bike is a film that I find easy to admire but harder to love. The film will feel familiar to anybody who knows the work of Belgium’s foremost filmmakers. An 11-year old boy, abandoned by his father and left in the care of an orphanage, searches for his feckless parent. This is a naturalistic story set in a world of the marginalised working class and failed…

This film feels like a throwback to classic Italian Neorealist cinema, specifically THE BICYCLE THIEF for some obvious reasons, but with a much meaner, cynical, modern take on it.

The basic story is that the kid, Cyril is abandoned by his father and left in an orphanage. He is taken in by Samantha, a local hairdresser who acts as his foster mother. The film deals with Cyril's search for a father-figure, which unfortunately leads him to the apartment of the…

French drama about 12 year old boy named Cyril, living in care. After being rejected by his father, Cyril is lucky enough to find the local hairdresser is willing to foster him at weekends.

Difficult watch for me and if I am honest Cyril and me wouldn't get on. He's far too damaged to share a space with me for any significant amount of time and I wouldn't have the patience he required.

And that's just what this film does,…