Chacun sa nuit

A very french film. It stars a bunch of teenagers in some provincial town in France, living their lives and loving each other – both mentally and physically. A murderous event interrupts the lives of five very close people. Nudity and sexuality are present throughout, but they are not exploited, they rather serve as essential elements of the story that unfolds. And in a way – this probably is the most "french" element –, they are both graphic and tasteful at the same time. The physical attractions cannot be excluded from the characters' thoughts and deeds and developments, yet it is exactly the difference and/or connection between mind and body that marks a central element. Scenes jump from one point of the time line to another, yet the overall narration and presentation is quite realistic (after all, the film is based on a true story). Luckily, this is neither a moral tale nor an "investigating" look at the nightlife of the hedonistic youth of our time; it is a very "talky" movie which some inevitably will find boring while others will be mesmerized. Given it will not be shown often (which looks as if), "Chacun sa Nuit" is very likely to receive a sort of cult potential in the coming years.

CHACUN SA NUIT (ONE TO ANOTHER) - CATCH IT ( B ) Chacun Sa Nuit is about One girl having sexual relationships with her 3 friends and Brother. A sexual relationship between a Sister and Her Brother is quite disturbing, shocking and provocative. According to the director the movie is based upon the true events occur in France, now how much reality in that is no one knows. After watching this movie I realize that French people are quite bold and provocative then I've expected. The movie is good though it rolls back & forth between Present time and Flashbacks, which takes time to understand. The movie touches various taboo topics like Sister and Brother sexual relation, Bisexuality, gay sex, guys having sex for money & girl seducing people to get out the facts about who killed here Brother. The Whole setup of the movie is quite artistic though when you are totally engage in the story and nakedness of the movie, the ending is quite Awful & for the Director to say that Adolescent let you do crimes like killing other person without any general motive is unbelievable. Who know what happened in real life but for cinema it's just not acceptable. The stars of movie are young and beautiful; apparently they are naked and soak under Sun naked most of the time. Lizzie Brochere looks quite beautiful & she isn't shy in being naked on screen. All the other guys, Arthur Dupont (Pierre), Guillaume Bache (Nicolas), Pierre Perrier (Sebastien) and Nicolas Nollet (Baptiste) are good looking young boys. My final verdict is, watch it for the Skin & Sex in the movie, who doesn't like beautiful people laying naked all the time? But if you're looking for a master piece with satisfying suspenseful ending it disappoints a little.

This is the kind of film that I want to get away from virtually every minute I am watching it but there is so much nudity, frontal, rear, sideways, that I remain glued to my chair anxiously awaiting the next shot of pubic hair. The story, which apparently is based on true events that occurred in France, is an absolute mess. Who can even begin to follow it? There are so many flashbacks, flash forwards and flash everything else that you just sit there enjoying all the nubile flesh in its various contortions which are quite varied and utterly shocking, frankly. I'm such a small town prude. Just can't help it. The lead, a stunning young French girl is never boring to look at but you do want to strangle her she gets on your nerves so much.

Visually, it's a fine movie. It looks great, with an attractive cast, excellent color cinematography, especially the lighting, and well-composed frames.

And the story is based on true events, provocative, at that. Four young guys, and one young woman named Lucie, explore life and love, perform in a band, and generally hang out together in modern day France. One of the guys (Pierre) is Lucie's brother. When Pierre goes missing and is presumed dead, Lucie sets about to find out what happened to him.

Except for the musical performances, "Chacun sa nuit" is generally a slow, quiet film, with very long camera "takes". Characters spend a lot of time lounging around in the nude, sulking, dawdling, brooding, lost in thought. The script is not overly talky, thankfully. Indeed, the dialogue is measured, deliberate, contemplative.

But, the film's structure is difficult, for several reasons. First, the script's inciting incident happens off-screen, which renders some confusion as to what is going on, in the first half. Second, events do not occur chronologically. Instead, flashbacks to the time when Pierre was alive alternate with events after his death. And that compounds the confusion, especially the first time I watched the film. The second viewing did help to clarify the plot.

In addition, given that the other three guys (Nicolas, Sebastien, and Baptiste) are all about the same age, the same height, and have similar appearances, I found it hard to keep them straight ... so to speak.

I wish the film's script had gone through another rewrite or two. A few changes here and there could have clarified who was who and what was happening. But despite a less than perfect script, "Chacun sa nuit" is a film worth watching, for the beautiful cinematography; for the provocative, underlying concept; and for a story that is based on real-life events.

Like so many screenwrites that minimize a functional plot and are based on jarring juxtapositions of elements truly extraneous to the story, (if you can find one in this film), one is left bored but befuddled. Quite a feat of genius--and then, let's throw in a kitchen sink (or two) and melodramatize the melodrama a bit further with all the kitchen sinks having sexual problems. And, as though any elegance might be wasted on the philistine masses anticipated to watch this thing, let's give the characters a good dowsing with Eau de Banal: let's say they are all in a band, and make them act so miraculously casual when confronted by each other's conceits that it seems the writer was trying hard to force accessible in ludicrous loads down watchers' throats. Doltish performances, mishandled script dynamics, and the shaky pursuit of post-modernist neo-realism all packs up together and forms a very cheesy fromage that no normal person could possibly suspend disbelief for in order to receive and swallow, and swallow, and swallow.