Nuits blanches sur la jetée (2014) Reviews

• Original take on a well-known story

  adrien-lecerf2015-02-11

  Went to see this movie for familial purposes, my expectations were average but this actually was quite a nice surprise. The story itself is well known to any classics-lover, as it is adapted from the same Dostoievski novella that was behind Visconti's wonderful Le Notti Bianche. It is the mise-en-scène choices by the director that contribute to give the movie a strangely eerie and poetic feel: the search for abstraction (night setting, (very) few characters, simple but effective use of the lights) creates a semblance of mythical atmosphere. Indeed, the theme of the original story is the difference (if any) between true, reciprocated love and mere fantasy or illusion, a dream of love and so it fits nicely. The two actors are very good. As the film begins one can be slightly uneasy with the way lines are said, almost like on a theatre stage (both indeed have a theatre formation). But this feeling wanes as the film goes on and finds its rhythm. They certainly deserve credit for their ability to make very long takes alive (there might be no more than 40 shots in the entire movie). I am unsure whether to recommend it for the average movie-goer as it relies heavily on dialogue and may seem quite austere - but if you read this then you probably aren't the average movie-goer anyway. So try your luck if this is playing in your neighborhood.