THE UNKNOWN GIRL is a small scale Belgian mystery that uses a simplistic plot as an opportunity to shine a light upon and provoke debate about various social issues of the day: doctors' workloads, the role of interns, doctor patient relationships, class, prostitution, trust, conspiracy, cover-ups, guilt, responsibility, you name it. While it does cover all of the above, I also found it rather meandering in tone and not particularly cinematic. Nobody here is likeable or particularly interesting, while social milieu is familiar from other films that had far more to say.

The efficient Dr. Jenny Davin (Adèle Haenel) works hard and has been chosen to replace Dr. Habran (Yves Larec),who has just retired, at the Kennedy Hospital. One night, someone rings the bell of her office after-hours and Dr. Davin asks her trainee Julien (Olivier Bonnaud) to not open the door since does not to seem an emergency. On the next morning, Police Inspectors Ben Mahmoud (Ben Hamidou) and Bercaro (Laurent Caron) require her surveillance tape since a teenager was found dead on the other side of the road and they are investigating what happened. Jenny feels guilty for not opening the door and becomes obsessed to find the teenager's identity. Her investigation affects her relationship with patients that might know something about the unknown girl.

"La fille inconnue", a.k.a. ("The Unknown Girl", is a film impressively realistic with a storyline of human values and obsession. Like most of the European movies (Belgium / France),the plot is developed at a slow-pace, supported by the great performance of Adèle Haenel. It is good to see the human values of her character that is deeply affected by her attitude. It is also interesting to see how doctors work in France, going to the patient's home and attending also during the night. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Garota Desconhecida" ("The Unknown Girl")

First, I should note that "La fille inconnue" ("The Unknown Girl" in English) is the first movie by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne that I've seen. What I took from it is that it has two major focuses. One is the main character's guilty conscience after learning that a young woman whom she neglected to admit to her clinic has been found dead, prompting her to find out the woman's identity. The other is the look at immigration into Europe. The victim is an immigrant from somewhere in Africa (the country is not identified).* Continuing immigration into Europe - often people fleeing terrorism - has invigorated neo-Nazi groups.

As for the movie itself, it was OK not great. I would like to see other movies by the Dardennes to compare this one to them.

*Off the top of my head I would guess the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). Cast member Marc Zinga is from there. During the colonial period, King Leopold of Belgium cut off the hands of any Congolese who didn't bring back a quota of rubber.