Belgium film ‘Un Monde' (Playground) imparts a valuable lesson in today’s world

 Told through the eyes of a little girl, this debut film of Laura Wandal missed an Oscar win -yet a story  that packs a punch in the fist of a child

Child actors Maya Vanderberque and Günter Duret in the lead roles of Nora and Abel-two siblings

Belgium film, ‘Un Monde' ( Playground) directed by Laura Wandal opens with Nora (Maya Vanderberque), and Abel (Günter Duret) being dropped at school by their father (Karim Leklou).

Karim Leklou as Nora's father in a scene with Maya Vanderberque

Taking viewers back to their school days, this story is narrated through the eyes of seven year-old Nora. Nora is not happy among strangers and wishes to tag along with her elder brother, Abel. But he pushes her away preferring his friends.  

This is Wandel’s debut feature after two shorts, ‘O Negatif’ and ‘Les Corps Etrangers’(selected in competition at Cannes). ‘Un Monde' (Playground)’ premiered at Cannes 2021 in the ‘Un Certain Regard’ and was shortlisted in the early nominations for the Academy award. Wandal points out here how a school is a child’s first introduction into society and in this microcosm of society it is every individual’s wish to be accepted.

Maya Vanderberque in a scene from Un Monde

For Nora, school is the first space where she is confronted with  social issues- of integration and finding her place in the community. What happens in a schoolyard reflects what happens at many other levels of society and the world.

Abel is bullied by other boys in school, but he hides it from his father. He also forbids Nora from complaining about it to his father and teachers out of a fear of social ostracism.

                                                   Günter Duret in a scene from Un Monde 

Nora gradually settles down and makes friends. And, the quiet girl whom we were introduced to in the beginning soon asserts herself. Watching her brother beaten by a bully she complains to a teacher and informs her father too. In another scene, she grabs an invitation from a classmate who doesn’t want to invite Nora to her birthday party on account of Abel’s behaviour.

It doesn't take long for Abel to become a part of the bullying group, leaving Nora much confused. She drifts away from Abel- the brother whom she adored earlier. She now avoids his company in school.

Wandal has the camera closely shadowing Nora, lingering at her level and capturing every line of emotion on her face. DOP Frederic Noirhomme was harnessed with a camera at Nora’s height. Keeping children in the focus, Wandal pushes adult characters into the background. The camera never looks down at the characters nor upwards making it an unusual narrative in the telling. The conversation children make in this film is interesting. One scene where Nora’s friend wonders if Nora’s father is a free loader since he seems to have the time to pick and drop his children to school everyday. 

Child actors child actors Maya Vanderberque and Günter Duret are remarkable and win the hearts of the audience. About a hundred children were auditioned before casting Maya in the lead role. 

“Nora was seven years old,”recalled Wandal in a media interview last year.
She remembers her first meeting with Maya when the little girl told her, ‘I want to give all my strength to this film.’
"That touched me enormously, "said Wandal. "Maya is blonde with long hair. But she was so committed that she cut her hair without any problem. At the casting, I simply asked the children to draw their playground and tell me what games they played. That alone was enough to observe their gestures, their speech, what the camera captured of them and I could see that something huge was coming out of Maya. I taught her to swim, which created a strong bond between us. Then I worked with two exceptional coaches, one of whom was a speech therapist, Perrine Bigot. We shot in July but we started working with the children in April: for three months, every weekend, we worked with the children. They never read the script. We created several working groups to build the brother/sister bond, the relationship between the friends, the dynamics within the group of friends, but we also created a group with all the children together. Through games, we got them used to the camera; then we worked on their emotions so that they could express them without being consumed by them, still through games. We explained the beginning of a situation and improvised around it. Finally, we had them draw the scene on a cardboard, like a child’s storyboard. When it came time to shoot, we brought out the cards and they knew exactly what the scene was about. It was a lot of work beforehand, but I loved this part of the film-making process. Maya is excellent, I don’t know where she got all that, but the result is there.”

About Günter Duret, she said, “He is an extraordinary boy- very brave- a little wild in the sense of instinctive. This impulsiveness brought out something very strong in his acting, and that’s what the film needed. The role was a bit scary for him, but he did really well.”
"We did at least twenty takes per sequence shot, because there were little accidents, camera glances, we had to redo. I would like to underline the courage of all these children. It is exhausting to do the same thing twenty or thirty times."

Viewers are not told anything about Nora’s and Abel’s mother.  
Wandal stated in an interview that she wanted to stay in the world of the children and school and to show the outside world as little as possible.
“Maybe the mother is at home or maybe not. We don’t know and I didn’t want to explain it. Because for children, there is the world of school, and almost nothing else exists. Generally, outside the family, this is the only world that the child knows, this is his or her representation of the world,” said Wandal. “On the other hand, not saying anything about the absence of the mother is to leave the viewer free. It’s very important for me that the spectator makes the film his or her own, and in order for him or her to project things from him or her, you have to give them room. You can’t give the audience everything on a silver platter, ” added Wandal, who has been inspired by filmmakers including the Dardenne brothers, Abbas Kiarostami, Bruno Dumont, Michael Haneke and Chantal Akerman, Wandal said, “What I find common in all these filmmakers is that they show the human in its worst, but they do it with such love and kindness that they always manage to bring back the human in its most just and beautiful. This is what I tried to do with Playground.”

Wandal’s film does not judge anyone-neither the parents and teachers.

“My aim was not to condemn anyone,” said Wandal. “There’s a meeting with the headmaster but it’s not solved all at once. The school supervisor is overwhelmed because she doesn’t have time, there are too many children and too many conflicts to solve. I think that kindness innate, and then it is lost, but I think it can be re-learned. At the end of the film, Nora has been through a series of things, but thanks to the listening and kindness that her teacher has given her, she manages to stop the violence with a gesture of kindness. This film is about helping each other. We live in a fast-paced society where there is no time to deal with the root causes of problems. In this schoolyard, there is harassment, but also ignorance, a lack of attention and listening. I have the impression that violence does not come from nowhere. It usually comes from a wound, from something that is not recognised and listened to, and unfortunately it is transmitted very quickly.

‘Playground’ shows the strength and resilience of children. It’s a very poignant scene as curtains fall down and Nora imparts a beautiful lesson to us- adults-that only love can heal everything. And it needed a little girl to tell us that which is relevant in today’s world.
 ‘Playground’ sadly did not make it to the Academy award.