Friday Night

1st watched 3/9/2010 -- 7 out of 10 (Dir-Claire Denis): Beautiful film about a woman preparing for a new life, getting stuck in a traffic jam, picking up a stranger and then having a night together with him. This film is like watching a ballet with it's beautiful depiction of everything from the city of Paris, to the hotel room, to the main characters. The camera is like a peeping tom into the heart of the main character played by Valerie Lemercier as we feel and see everything she sees and feels. Except, of course, the emotions are a little restrained -- which is typical of the French. With French films, you never expect a cut-and-dry ending and they take their time letting you experience every moment(this is unique to this countries films). The film has a very simple premise and it lets you think thru what's going on in the character's minds and never gives away anything. There is very little dialogue which lets you breathe in and experience every minute. Sure -- not much happens, but it doesn't have to. Sometimes life is "exactly" like this and Claire Denis captures it beautifully. Do we know what happens to the character's when it's over?? -- no, but we can guess and that's where the fun lies in a film like this.

Vendredi Soir (2002), directed by Claire Denis, is a film about two

residents of Paris who come together because of a horrendous,

citywide traffic jam. The movie is slow and deliberate, but not

boring. The film's power derives from the interaction of two

attractive strangers who are temporarily trapped--and yet

liberated--by the fact that mass transit is shut down, and auto

traffic has come to a standstill.

Valérie Lemercier portrays Laure, a young woman who has left her

apartment to move in with her lover. Ms. Lemercier owes a great

debt to Ms. Denis, who could have cast the part with a more

traditionally beautiful woman. (In the U.S., the role would probably

have gone to Demi Moore.) Instead, the director chose an actor

who is undeniably beautiful, but in an interesting, complex way.

Lemercier is an outstanding actor, and she is given enough time

on screen to demonstrate her professional skills.

Don't see this film if you're looking for excitement, graphic sex,

violence, or a strong narrative story line. See this film if you want to

view Paris--and human relationships--portrayed in a serious, but

almost dreamlike, lyrical, fashion.

Claire Denis uses close-ups better than anybody since Sergio Leone. Agnes Godard is amazing. A Denis film almost always has a human warmth few other filmmakers achieve with their films, even if it's their intention to do so. All these qualities are present in "Vendredi soir", yet I felt it was significantly weaker than the three Denis films I had already seen: "Chocolat", "Nenette et Boni", and "Trouble Every Day". It's not that the film is 'slight' or that it doesn't have much narrative drive that bothered me, either, but that it never took on the sort of gravity I thought it should have. Moreover, the film falls apart toward the end, when it should have come together. The opening stages of the film, with Godard's camera taking us through Paris were absolutely gorgeous, the first few scenes after the two main characters meet were great, especially the brilliant impressionistic montage after Jean unexpectedly takes over driving Laure's car (accompanied by a Hitchcockian musical score), but when they actually get together and have sex the film just falls apart. Here's a film which is technically brilliant (direction, cinematography, acting, Dickon Hinchliffe's great debut score), formally interesting, but which just doesn't have enough in it to justify even its short length.

I very much like how this film begins, and it is a creative aspect to have a story line start out of being stuck in traffic. Yet, about 1/3 of the way into the film, it begins to become a bit bizarre, when the man enters her car. Everything seems a bit surreal and things do not always follow logically. My explanation, and what I think makes the film better in retrospect, is that everything that follows may not have actually happened. It seemed to be all too perfect, and she did everything without a single qualm. We were already shown that she was a bit apprehensive about leaving her current comfortable, and the fact that she entered a fantasy seems quite normal under that sort of stress. Nonetheless, whether you believe it was a fantasy or it really happened, it is poetically shot and deserves to be seen, to make ones own decision about the film.

The traffic jam sequence alone stands as an amazing and lyrical study of the rhythms of stop and start driving. The two lovers are so anchored in the magnetism of the present. This movie is a homage to human nature, and sexual attraction consummated. Also, I absolutely love that the film accepts and cherishes the moment as the lovers do. It's very French.