Nuit d’été en ville (1990) - film review

Having made love for the first time, a young couple attempt to get to know one another.  Neither had expected anything more than a one-night stand when he, Louis, accepted an invitation from her, Emilie, back to her apartment one hot summer’s evening.  As they talk, they enter into each other’s lives, and it becomes clear that their relationship will last well beyond the next morning…

Nuit d’été en ville is arguably director Michel Deville’s most daring film, and certainly one of his most intimate.  The narrative could hardly be simpler – a man and a woman talk playfully to find out something about one another between one bout of passionate lovemaking and another (neither of which is shown on screen).  It would have been virtually impossible for any director to sustain such a simple storyline for an hour and a half without two extraordinarily talented actors and a rather special piece of scripting – but Nuit d’été en ville has both of these.

Jean-Hugues Anglade and Marie Trintignant are perfectly cast – and not just because of their physical beauty (which Deville exploits by having both actors perform fully naked for the first half of the film).  In their previous films, both Anglade and Trintignant have revealed a dark, mysterious aspect to their personas, and this film reinforces this impression, in spite of its seemingly anodyne subject.  We are constantly intrigued by the characters they portray with such depth and cool enigmatic charm.   There is the sense that we are spying – somewhat guiltily – on that most intimate of human experiences, learning about two lovers at the same time that they learn about each other.  This voyeuristic approach is employed by Deville in much of his work, but seldom as skilfully and as appropriately as in this film.

Nuit d’été en ville is clearly not a film for all tastes; it demands both patience and attention from its spectator, for this is film minimalism at its most extreme.  All the drama and tension resides in the dialogue and in the subtle rapport of the two actors.  For those who can appreciate this kind of slow-moving, introspective drama, Nuit d’été en ville offers a rewarding cinematic experience – a work of striking poetry and humanism, and a candid, intelligent portrayal of that most intimate of human relationships.

© James Travers 2004

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