The social realism of body language in 'Rosetta' (The Dardenne brothers and social realist filmmaking)

It is frequently assumed in the visual media that there is only one universal body language. As Susan Bordo puts it, media teach us to construct and interpret identities based on this universal "bodily discourse". Yet, despite this, we also know that each body is uncompromisingly unique - each with its own history, its own expression, its own way of being in the world. The Dardenne brothers of Belgium are highly aware of this particularity and use it in their social realist filmmaking. This article uses insights by Foucault and Judith Butler to examine how a film that focuses so intently on the body is able to achieve a rare degree of sociological and psychological depth.