Vendredi Soir
(2002)
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Claire Denis' FRIDAY NIGHT, a fantasy that follows a woman into a one-night stand, is an adaptation of the popular novel by Emmanuelle Bernheim who also cowrote the story with Denis. Dreamy and confused, the film begins as Laure (Valerie Lemercier) is packing up her Paris apartment and preparing to move. The chaos of this situation leads directly into the next, as Laure gets in her car and begins to drive across town to a dinner party, only to become stuck in a massive traffic jam. As radio reports continue to stress the drastic and unbreakable gridlock that has Paris literally locked in the streets, a rainstorm blurs Laure's vision. Suddenly, a stranger (Vincent Lindon) approaches on foot, and she offers him a ride. But they're not going anywhere, just smoking, and sitting idle. Eventually Laure calls her friends and cancels on the dinner party, leaving her Friday night wide open to follow whatever path it may take. |
Both an unconventional love story and a piercing study of urban dislocation, this chance encounter on a chilly Parisian night manages to say a good deal about modern society with the minimum of dialogue. Whether in the snarled traffic that compounds Valérie Lemercier's doubts about committing to her partner or the spartan hotel room where her tentative relationship with hitcher Vincent Lindon develops into liberating passion, director Claire Denis and cinematographer Agnès Godard capture character and emotion with the utmost discretion. But it's the impressionistic use of hazy lights and jumbled sounds to re-create the trappings and pitfalls of city life that most impresses.