Anne Émond on NUIT #1

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} NUIT #1 begins with its main characters, Clara (Catherine de Léan) and Nikolai (Dimitri Storoge), engaged in a superficial but strenuous bout of sex, having just met each other at a rave and retreated to Nikolai's sparsely appointed apartment. But, using the sheer shallowness of that physical coupling as a springboard, director Anne Émond delves deeper, as Clara and Nikolai begin to unburden themselves in a post-coitus confrontation that exposes their hopes, disappointments, fears, and desires. Abandoning the by-now common widescreen format for a 35mm frame to enhance the intimacy of the drama, Émond stages an exchange between two souls that's spare and intimate, yet sears as hot as the most reckless of one-night stands. It's incisive, passionate drama that, frankly, blew me away.