Nuit #1

First of all it's hard to call this motion-picture film a movie (in general meaning of this word) with a storyline and some action on the screen. It is rather a stage play based TV play (similar to "Sunset Limited") than a cinema movie. But this is not the point for real judges of chamber pieces and the art of acting. "Night #1" is an emotional and serious minded film at once. And the love scene (though it plays its role) an the beginning is nothing comparing with much harder and frank talks throughout the film. They are two, each of them is at the bottom of society and lowlife, furthermore, they both know about it. But their characters contain and reflect not only tough things but many other elements of modern life and state of things in the real world. Closer to the end some dramatic monologues have a very depressing tone, culminating some concepts and problems. I didn't understand the film's ending - what exactly the author wanted to say or to show. Maybe that the first night can be the second chance or that strangers and randoms can also be happy together?

"Nuit #1" (2011 release from Canada; 91 min., English title "Night #1") brings the story of Clara and Nikolai. As the movie opens, we see them dancing away, as if in a trance, at a rave party, bouncing up and down the floor, all in slow motion. We then jump forward to them arriving at Nikolai's apartment, where they have passionate sex. Later on, Clara gets ready to leave, but at the last minute Nikolai hears her leave and calls her back. The two start talking... At this point we're 15 min. into the movie, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the feature length debut from Canadian writer-director Anne Emond. Here, she tackles a bunch of topics, most importantly the loneliness and sense of being adrift of two young people (although the Nikolai character is 31, so not that young anymore). At one point Clara sighs "I want to cry but there are no tears in me", wow. As the title implies, this is, literally, the first night (#1) but to me it also implies between the lines that it is not the last night, although we don't know this of course. my point is: don't call this "the one-night stand movie" as that belittles what this movie is really about. As other have commented, the movie gets better as we get deeper into it, and the last half hour, when we finally hear the perspectives and thoughts of Clara, the movie is at its best. Kudos to the two lead performers, Catherine de Léan as Clara and Dimitri Storoge as Nikolai, who brings us fearless performances. This movie was up for a number of awards, including the Canadian equivalent of the Oscars in 2012. Certainly, this is not for everyone. There is a fair amount of nudity, in particular in the first 15 minutes, so if that offends or bothers you, please check out another movie. Much of the movie takes place in Nikolai's apartment, and in that sense this is pretty much like a filmed theater play, so if that is something that may bother you, please stay away from this.

I stumbled upon this when browsing in the foreign movie section at my local library, and took a flyer on this. I'm glad I did, and I will seek out other movies from director Anne Emond. Worth checking out for fans of "all talk, no action" foreign language films.

Much more a short story than a novel, but Nuit #1 has some very powerful moments, especially during the latter half so stick with it (it takes a good 20-30 minutes to truly establish itself). Well acted and shot, with some good music here and there. Deep, frank monologues dominate, sometimes reminiscent of Rohmer, yet the subject matter more often recalls the themes of Michael Winterbottom (i.e. drugs, sex, music, the outsider, despair, etc...). Definitely worth seeing if you like either of these fine directors. Bravo to all involved in this film, esp. Anne Emond and Catherine de Lean. Similar films: Candy and Morvern Callar.

If you enjoy watching two clinically depressed, alienated people whine and endlessly process their situations in life, you'll like this film. They don't even seem to enjoy the sex they engage in which is a major early scene. The sex does seem to fit into the film organically to a degree although it's not all that interesting itself.

In an alternative script I can imagine both characters would do well to get some psychotherapy/drugs and then make a stab at actually doing something about the situations they hate. That's never easy but I'll bet it would beat moping, dancing drunk and stoned in raves, having serial sex with strangers, getting repeatedly fired from work, etc. But then that wouldn't be an emo film about feeling alienated and depressed.

I gave the film 3/10 because the acting was pretty good; so was the cinematography.

This movie was very engaging. It focuses on the dialogue between two people. It is very intelligent, shot well with a great script. The music helps to tie everything together. I think it would be a great date night film with your significant other. This movie also proves that a film does not need to have a big budget and lots of special effects to work. This one works great with limited resources and it still seems to work. The whole theater was impressed and so was I. Check it out on a rainy night when you and your partner are looking for something to watch that isn't too engaging but yet tells a beautiful story.