Belgian Waffling

L'Enfant is hardly the only recent drama to use absentee fatherhood as a way of exploring larger questions of guilt and responsibility -- another disturbing trend for us to blame on the war, perhaps. But its level of compassion, never to be confused with mere sentimentality, might be matched only by the Dardennes' other masterfully ethical melodramas. The filmmakers reportedly got the idea for the film in 2001 while shooting The Son: They saw a young mother strolling a baby through the streets of Seraing and found themselves wondering about the "missing character" -- the father. Their concern for the underprivileged extends even (or especially) to those they cannot see -- and their gesture is inspiring. Tough as it is, L'Enfant nudges both its protagonist and its audience toward unlikely affection. Tough as it is, L'Enfant commands our care by practicing what it preaches. No wonder the brothers call it a love story.