Page - 33 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/02

Realistic Humanism | 33www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/2, 33–44 Walter Lesch Realistic Humanism Luc Dardenne as a Philosopher and Filmmaker ABSTRACT Luc Dardenne is not only a successful filmmaker together with his brother Jean-Pierre. He is also a stimulating philosopher who has reflected on the influence of Emmanuel Levinas on the brothers’ cinematic work. This article shows typical constellations of film and philosophy and focuses on the special contribution of a Levinasian perspec- tive on face-to-face encounters, violence and compassion as central topics in the films of the Dardennes. Luc Dardenne has developed his philosophical approach in his dia- ries and in the essay The Human Affair, published in 2012. This text can be used as a key for an understanding of the film Le gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, FR/BE/IT 2011). KEYWORDS humanism, realism, responsibility, Levinas, moral philosophy, aesthetics BIOGRAPHY Walter Lesch is Professor of Ethics at the Université catholique de Louvain in Louvain- la-Neuve (Belgium). The main focus of his research is social ethics (at the Faculty of Theology) and moral philosophy (at the Institute of Philosophy). His areas of interest are fundamental issues of ethics, political philosophy (especially questions concerning migration), gender studies in the context of religion, and representations of religious phenomena in the media. In his book on the Dardenne brothers, Philip Mosley puts in a nutshell the com- plexity of their carefully constructed artistic and cinematic work, which he char- acterises appropriately as an expression of “responsible realism”.1 This empha- sises the realistic dimension of the brothers’ achievement that should not be misunderstood as a unilateral celebration of social misery and marginalisation. One of the signatures of today’s reality is the films’ setting, the suburban land- 1 Mosley 2013. See also Mai 2010.