Friday Night

There are films and there are movies. Films are "better", but movies are more enjoyable. The best entertainment comes when you get a film that is also a movie. Friday Night is clearly a film. And I would say even more specifically, an art film. Whatever you do, don't read these prior sentences with a derogatory tone. I mean this description in the best sense. Directors often use cinematographic (is that a word) techniques in lieu of dialogue to set tone and communicate message. This can be done splendidly (see first part of Wall-E) or it can be exceedingly ineffective in actually communicating (see Limits of Control). In all cases, the filmmaker must remember that the technique cannot replace storytelling. Here, the lack of dialogue is replaced by texture. Fully a third of the film is slow, close up pans across wallpaper, curtains, car doors, faces, and cityscapes. The tone is introspective and suggests appreciation for environment. This is well done and as the viewer, I felt like I was in the same frame of mind as the protagonist Laure. As for the plot, we are set in Paris and Laure has just finished packing her apartment for a move. It is Friday night and she is leaving for the last time to go across town for dinner with some friends. Enter Parisian transit strike. Stuck in her car traveling blocks per hour, a stranger (Jean) gets in to her car (still minimal dialogue). One thing leads to another and Laure takes a little detour. This is an erotic (although not explicit) love story that has as many plot holes as any other film (how does traffic suddenly disappear when Jean drives?). But the point is not necessarily plot consistency. Perhaps it is something else... Just remember, it is a film, not a movie.
4 stars (out of 5)