Chacun sa nuit (2006)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Directors:

Pascal Arnold
Jean-Marc Barr

Writer:

Pascal Arnold (writer)

Release Date:

20 September 2006 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Male Nudity | Male Frontal Nudity | Female Frontal Nudity | Murder | Gay Interest

Cast

Lizzie Brocheré	...	Lucie
Arthur Dupont	...	Pierre
Guillaume Baché	...	Nicolas
Pierre Perrier	...	Sébastien
Nicolas Nollet	...	Baptiste
Valérie Mairesse	...	Agnès
Karl E. Landler	...	Paul
Matthieu Boujenah	...	Damien
Jean-Christophe Bouvet	...	Vincent Sylvaire
Pierre Beziers	...	Le lieutenant
Antoine Coesens	...	M. Saunier
Guillaume Gouix	...	Romain le skinhead
Claude Lecat	...	Mme Saunier
Stéphane Dauch	...	Le psychiatre
Marion Donon	...	Julie

Also Known As:

One Two Another (UK) (video title)
One to Another (International: English title)

Runtime:

France:95 min | USA:95 min

Country:

France | Denmark

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

France:-12 | Singapore:R21 (cut) | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Company:

Toloda

Based On Real-Life Events

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.