Un Año, Una Noche
An effective psychological drama grounded in realism and shot as a semi-documentary by the Spaniard Isaki Lacuesta, in his first film in French. In the Bataclan terrorist attack in Paris, in 2015 (killing at least 137 concertgoers at the nightclub), a young couple, the Frenchwoman Céline (Noémie Merlant) and her Spanish boyfriend Ramón (Nahuel Pérez), are survivors who wander through the streets dazed and wrapped in a foil recovery blanket and find themselves frightened alongside other survivors.
When back in their cramped Paris apartment the next morning, the hyper Ramon experiences flashbacks and is antsy. Meanwhile the calmer Céline goes back to her work at a young people’s shelter as if nothing happened, without mentioning (even to her parents) that she was at the concert. The drama questions how people are so different in the way they respond to tragedy in the age of social media and how disconnected some of us can get with those that don’t share the same experiences.
Through flashbacks we see how Ramon is plagued by anxiety attacks (is as mentally crippled as a PTSD victim) and Céline, who repressed her memory of the attack, becomes so much like a mother figure to him. Premiered at the Berlinale. (Subtitles)
Our thanks to StudioCanal for this film.
- CHICHESTER EXCLUSIVE
