1,000 Times Good Night

Beautiful acting, intense story and a roller-coaster of emotions. That kind of sums up what I felt about this movie after seeing it. Juliette Binoche portraits a passionate woman who is torn by the love for her work and the love for her family. Being a war-photographer, her safety is constantly at risk and her passion to show what is happening puts her in even more danger. Her husband cannot accept her neglect of the responsibility she has as a wife and a mother of two daughters. She chooses her family over her work and tries to deal with her choice. But it does tear her apart. Her husband obviously sees this as well, and suggest to her to take her adolescent daughter to a 'safe' part of Africa to shoot some pictures of a refugee camp and to bond with her. It also gives her daughter some first-hand experience for her school-project about Africa. But her passion takes over when the camp is overrun by a trigger-happy tribe and she smells the sweet scent of danger she loves so much. Juliette Binoche has created a beautiful multi-layered character. You may not agree with her choices but you do understand them. Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau does a great job as the frustrated husband who loves his wife so much, but can't live with the knowledge that one day she might not be coming home from work. The script is smartly written. The directions keep you on the edge of your seat because it never gets boring and you constantly feel there's something underneath needing to come to the surface at some time. Add some beautiful camera-work and this might as well be one of the best movies I've seen this year. It left me with a punch in my stomach and a lump in my throat. 10/10

This is a truly European production with a genuinely global agenda. A Norway-Sweden- Ireland co-production, it was shot in Ireland, Afghanistan, Kenya and Morocco and both the director Erik Poppe and writer Harald Rosenløw Eeg are Norwegian (the story is inspired by Poppe's personal experiences as a war photographer). War photographer Rebecca (the French Juliette Binoche) is married to marine biologist Marcus (the Danish Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) and they live in Ireland with their two daughters, but Rebecca is constantly drawn to conflict zones where she take incredible risks to obtain dramatic photographs. The film explores what such a situation does to the family left at home and what drives someone to risk all that is dear to them. The largely wordless opening sequence presages a slow work, but a compelling one, and as always Binoche gives a mesmerising performance.

This represents the first great movie I've seen in awhile. We think it's the old Hollywood story about families sticking together. Instead a mother tries to honor her teenage daughter's idealism about the world - an idealism that's desperately needed but nearly impossible to achieve. This mixed in with a home front situation and seems to be beyond ideal. The acting is frequently subtle, sometimes powerful, but they certainly cast the right amount of people (i.e. not too many) to solidify a strong message. I was impressed at how directly the dialogue took on world politics and non-profit organizations. Beautiful camera work - the theme - and a surprise ending make this a must-see.

Being a Juliette Binoche s biggest fan from early days of my life is no news. However she still keeps surprising me. I was in the movie from the Start, from being a mother and having to choose ones career or the Family totally felt it. Then feeling the loneliest person on earth Surrounded with people who you love, unappreciated and somehow Misunderstood, also something close to my heart. The story line is very strong and not unrealistic. In fact one can feel why she is burning with desire to "Grab and chock people from their morning newspaper). Hours after finishing the film, still sitting analysing it in my head, well that is one hell of a good movie to me!

I can not stress how much I love this film. There are so many beautiful moments, and so many beautiful shots. This film really went straight into my heart, and I felt every moment of it. Artistically it's shot very well, and I got nothing negative to say about the mise-en-scene. I believe it's a very important story to tell, and when I found out it was based on the directors life, I was even more impressed. Lauryn Canny was only 14 years old when the film were shot, and to get such a great performance from someone that young is admirable. It will go under my all time favourite films. Nicolaj is a great actor and it's nice to see him in a role like this, and as usual, Juliette's performance is strong, and you believe every tear that falls from her eyes. She is such a talented actress, and she was perfect for the role!

I saw this at The Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis this weekend. It's been 24+ hours since the movie ended, and it's themes are still with me. The horror of war..the difficulty balancing passion and pragmatism...what do children need from their parents... My mind changed such that the final take away is the theme of the film. Life is difficult and decisions have consequences. I want to have coffee with Rebecca and shake her. Tell her how much her children and husband need her..Tell her the sacrifice isn't worth it. Atrocities will continue. Taking pictures of suicide bombers does glamorous the cause. Taking pictures of deceased Africans doesn't bring them to life. Why are you so angry? For these reasons, I must recommend this film. It is not only well acted, but it creates and stirs up emotions, makes you think. Some time more than entertainment is demanded from a film.

In a warm sunny day in Montreal I went to watch the very new arrival film "A Thousand Times Good Night". I had no idea how it would be impressive because I could not find much information through the web. All the people may encounter a paradoxical situation between their family and their job. This fact is more realizable when you are a war photographer. The first scenes of A Thousand Times Good Night are too devastating. You can feel the horror, anger, and self-sacrifice behavior in those Afghan extremists. It seems that the suicide bomber just jumped to her destiny as she had been told to do and in parallel she was scared to death. These paradoxical situations just began from the very first scene and moves through the film. The photographer, Rebecca, had her own dilemmas between her enthusiast and her family life. I think the symbolic scene which shows Rebecca plunging in reverse was frequently displayed to show how it would be difficult to decide in dilemmas. You may watch it or refuse to watch it but it worth to watch because this is life as it is!