Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne's Rosetta (1999)

Rosetta (Émilie Dequenne), 18, loses her job after her trial period ends. She lives in a trailer park in Belgium with her alcoholic mother (Anne Yernaux) who prostitutes herself. Described in this superb film is not only the grimness of the day-to-day life of people close to the bottom of the heap but the sheer resiliance as Rosetta traps fish in a bottle and tries to find other work. She makes friends with Riquet (Fabrizio Rongione) who works on a waffle stand and works for his boss (played by Olivier Gourmet) for a few days and tries to find more work with him.

Separately both Rosetta and Riquet fall into the water, recalling the Dardenne's L'Enfant, and the sounds of their breathing, with no background music, form a backcloth to the action, emphasising the endurance that is their lives.

As Riquet is robbing the boss, Rosetta grasses him up, he's sacked and Rosetta takes his place. Riquet then frightens her by chasing her around on his moped. Later she has to pick her drunken mother up and drags her to bed and is lugging a gas container back to the caravan while Riquet corners her. She looks desperate, tearful and without hope. A film of staggering bleakness.