Chacun sa nuit

It’s almost inexplicable just how bad Chacun sa nuit quickly reveals itself to be, as the film immediately adopts a senseless and distinctly pointless aura that persists throughout its running time. Revolving around the interminable exploits of five French friends – four guys and one unusually slutty girl – the movie boasts several unimpressive performances, though the actors are hardly at fault for the myriad of problems here. Directors Jean-Marc Barr and Pascal Arnold deserve the lion’s share of the blame, and their choice to employ a time-shifting structure proves to be a disastrous one. Rather than play around with time in an interesting or artful way, the filmmakers have instead infused the movie with a baffling, thoroughly frustrating sort of vibe (ie it generally feels as though the reels are playing out of order). Difficulties in telling the various characters apart only adds to the feeling of ineptness, although every one of these figures generally comes off as unreasonably obnoxious. Chacun sa nuit is as bad as film festival movies get, devoid of anything even resembling competence.

no stars out of ****