Two days, two nights

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Movie
German title Two days, two nights
Original title Day Night Day Night
Country of production USA / D / F
original language English
Publishing year 2006
length 90 minutes
Rod
Director Julia Loktev
script Julia Loktev
production Melanie Judd ,
Jessica Levin ,
Julia Loktev
camera Benoît Debie
cut Julia Loktev,
Michael Taylor
occupation

Two Days Two Nights is a 2006 drama film directed by Julia Loktev , who also wrote the screenplay. The film, produced jointly by ARTE , FaceFilm and ZDF , depicts the 48 hours in the life of a young woman in New York City before her planned suicide bombing in a minimalist way and follows her meticulously with the camera.

The approximately $ 350,000 production was mainly funded by ZDF and $ 75,000 from the Richard Vague Film Production Fund for Alumni of Loktev's Alma Mater, New York University .

action

A young woman travels by bus to New York City, murmuring several types of death in a kind of prayer and announcing at the end that her death should only be dedicated to one, whom she addresses in the second person . When she arrived in New York City, she made contact with a stranger on her cell phone, who first gave her instructions by phone and was then driven to a hotel. Soon she meets three men in her room who are always wearing ski masks and it quickly becomes clear that the young woman, whose name is never mentioned in the film, is supposed to carry out an assassination attempt. The anonymous men give her instructions, a new identity in case of emergency and take pictures of her in military gear against the background of seemingly revolutionary motifs, whereby she remains completely composed, polite and obedient at all times. The motive for the action remains unclear.

Later, blindfolded, the men take her to the basement of another building, where a deaf bomb designer (also wearing a ski mask) and his interpreter (wearing a headscarf and a transparent veil) familiarize her with the handling of a backpack filled with explosives and nails . This backpack bomb is supposed to detonate them in Times Square in the middle of a crowd.

Eventually the young woman arrives on the turbulent streets of Manhattan with the backpack on her shoulders. For a while she takes another walk on her way to Times Square, where she buys treats several times on various occasions. At a traffic light it comes, as planned, at the time when she should activate the detonator of the bomb. However, despite her previous determination, she loses her nerve in the face of the many people and takes refuge in a nearby business. Recovered, she tries again. This time, however, the detonator fails. Half-panicked and half-desperate attempts to repair the bomb, to detonate it in any other way or to contact the organizers and their parents by telephone, remained unsuccessful. Finally it is night, her question, again formulated like a prayer, why her sacrifice is not wanted, remains unanswered.

Reviews

Justin Chang wrote in Variety that the simple austerity of the film made it alternately frustrating and impressive. The film cannot count on a large audience because of its radical minimalism. However, Williams' game is successful in forcing the viewer to identify with her role, which is seriously worrying.

Stephen Holden , in his praise for the film in The New York Times, understood the face of Williams, which is unforgettable not only because of its diverse mime play and which he compared to the young Sandra Bernhard . The evaluation of the film itself would depend on how much tolerance you have for conceptual tricks. In his attempt to lock the viewer in the mind of a terrorist without explanations, he partly reminds of Elephant and in doing so, like Paradise Now , achieves an immense tension.

Howie Movshovitz took the view in The Hollywood Reporter that the film captivates above all through enormous control and discipline, as well as the many questions that the viewer asks. Movshovitz also praised the use of the digital handheld camera, which makes the film look very realistic and atmospherically exciting.

Geoff Andrew wrote in Time Out London that the film was demanding but flawed because it was too long and relied too much on the lead actress' play, which Andrew judged to be weak. The many wordless scenes shot in close-up looked as if Loktev had overdosed the brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne without learning from them.

On the occasion of the first broadcast on German-language television on ARTE on October 9, 2007, TV Today found that the fascination with the film was determined by the fact that the protagonist's background and motifs remained in the dark. Luisa Williams is "impressive"; the director's decision to follow the protagonist through the film would let Lektov stand "in the tradition of directors like Carl Theodor Dreyer and Robert Bresson ".

Awards

Two days Two nights was awarded the Regard jeune award by the independent section Quinzaine des Realisateurs during the 59th Cannes International Film Festival (2006), where the film premiered . At the 22nd Independent Spirit Awards (2007) the film was nominated in the category Best Debut Film; Loktev eventually won the Someone to Watch Award for the film .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Monica Sharif: Interview: Julia Loktev (Day Night Day Night) . In: ioncinema.com . May 9, 2007, accessed April 10, 2019.
  2. ↑ http://filmtv.tisch.nyu.edu/object/VagueAlumPrevWin.html
  3. ↑ Interview with Julia Loktev about the film on thefilmlot.com .
  4. ^ Mary Glucksman, " In Focus: The Political Aesthetic " on filmmakermagazine.com , Summer 2005.
  5. ↑ Justin Chang, " Day Night Day Night ( Memento October 18, 2007 on the Internet Archive )," on variety.com , May 7, 2007.
  6. ↑ Stephen Holden , " Learning to Empathize With a Suicide Bomber, " on nytimes.com , May 9, 2007.
  7. ↑ Howie Movshovitz: " Day Night Day Night " on hollywoodreporter.com , 9th September, 2006.
  8. ↑ Geoff Andrew: " Day Night Day Night ( Memento from September 12, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )", on timeout.com .
  9. ↑ TV Today 20/07, p. 177.