Day Night Day Night

Caught this at an art theater last night, and the crowd afterward was split about 50/50 as to how they received the film.

One side admitted that the film was unique while avoiding any trace of pretentiousness and that Loktev was captivating. Still, these people felt that the film’s incredibly slow pace was too much to bear. I understand this sentiment, but I don't agree with it. Likewise, just about everyone thought the film was very creepy, and while this turned on many in the art-house crowd, it repelled nearly as many.

Personally, I like creepy movies, and I thought the creepiness was magnified wonderfully by the slow pace. It felt like a snuff film combined with soft-core child porn combined with _The Passion of Joan of Arc_. Seriously, it was that creepy. And that added creepiness greatly to the suspense—I literally jumped a little bit out of my chair at one point, and I can only remember doing that a handful of times in my history of movie-going.

Still, I don’t know whether or not the slow pace would hold up well to repeated viewings, and it's not like the pacing was perfect; shaving ten minutes overall probably would have helped. But I still think the film was effective and unique enough to deserve a high rating.

a cold film. about nothing, at first sigh. a girl. a walk. a decision. nothing clear, nothing explained. only a face in a circle of covered faces, in middle of Times Square. but this is its virtue because a movie about nothing, dark, cold, a white page is, in fact, just a portrait of viewer. story of a choice, it is beautiful and impressive in same measure. beautiful for delicate manner to present an obscure event. impressive for the force of silence and for the art of Luisa Williams (who seems be a young Nadia Comăneci ) to use this slices of silence to transform a lot of impressions about terrorism in a realistic confession. a film about a decision out of its roots. and about huge solitude as personal territory.

Day Night Day Night is disturbing and scary, in a good way. Julia Lorkev has done an awesome job showing the emotions, inside battle and thoughts of a suicide bomber right before action, in a minimalistic way. She has wisely chosen the actress, the locations, the desaturated colors (especially in the first half). I especially enjoyed the closeness and the intimacy of the movie through its filming style. The other point that I noticed is the the way Loklev used some life routines (such as eating) and the contradictions they sometimes make, in such an artistic way to captivate such deep feelings. It is captivating, beautifully shot and definitely not an easy movie to watch.

I am disappointed to read that other viewers were bored. From the preview it was obvious to me that this would not be a popcorn-movie or summer blockbuster.

I enjoyed how minimal and deliberate the film is. If you are looking for an action movie, go rent 'True Lies'. If you are interested in a beautifully restrained, patient film that humanizes people on both sides of the conflict rather than than making a suicide bomber a one-dimensional villain, this movie is for you.

It takes skill and courage for a filmmaker to attempt to tell a story almost completely with images. Very little dialogue. No gun fights or car chases. Not that there's anything wrong with a fun, action-packed movie. This film is deliberately slow and was a welcome break from the usual pacing of mainstream films.

A stark wisp of a film, 'Day Night Day Night' was a last second addition to my festival-going experience, on this the last day of the festival. Each year I try to attend something I know very little about and this entry in the Visions program of the festival sparked my interest by its air of mystery: a story that for the first half of the film follows an unspecified woman spending what appears to be her last night on earth in a hotel room, followed by a tension-building second day on the streets of New York. The less you know about the story the better the experience. The actress who plays the central character, on screen every moment of the film, is mesmerizing as the somewhat clumsy yet fanatic young woman at a precarious crossroad in her life; much of the film is comprised of extreme close-ups of her face, the flaring nostrils and heavy breathing alerting us to the dark thoughts running through her mind. The audience is given very little back story of what brought her to this hotel room awaiting her fate, and the ambiguity pays off in the second half preventing the thrust of her mission from going down a well-trod path. This film could have easily stopped at a couple different junctures and been less successful as result, however the director keeps the story moving towards a surprisingly heart-wrenching moment that validates its whole purpose.

Grade: 8/10