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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Tusen ganger god natt" )

 

directed by Erik Poppe
Norway/Ireland/Sweden 2013

 

When war photojournalist Rebecca Thomas (Juliette Binoche, ELLES) is injured in an explosion while documenting the ritual of a female suicide bomber in Afghanistan, she returns home to Ireland to a different type of homecoming. Her marine biologist husband Marcus (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, HEADHUNTERS) is no longer able to deal with the possibility of Rebecca being killed the next time she goes off on assignment. He is also concerned about the emotional welfare of their children: teenage Steph (Lauryn Canny) and younger Lisa (Adrianna Cramer Curtis). Rebecca tells Marcus that she does not plan to cover war zones anymore, but he does not believe her. As she tries to settle into domestic life, she finds "being normal" awkward but she also starts to realize that Marcus' concerns for the children are valid. When her battered camera equipment is shipped back to her, she relives the explosion through her own photographs (as well as the guilt she feels about not being able to stop it). She is incensed when the magazine she worked for refuses to publish the photographs after Pentagon criticism that embedded journalists are glamorizing terrorism, and she starts to feel restless again. She attempts to bond with her children, buying Lisa the kitten she always wanted and letting Steph use her photographs for a school project about Africa. While helping her do additional research, Rebecca runs into colleague Stig (Mads Ousdal, JACKPOT) who is now program coordinator for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Kenya and offers her the job to cover their efforts at the refugee camps in a non-conflict area. Although Rebecca turns him down, Steph not only wants her to do it she also wants to come along to gather more material for her school project. When Marcus objects, Steph becomes angry with him and he eventually relents. Although the camp is supposed to be in a safe area and well-protected, conflict between clans within the camp result in a bloody shoot-out in which Steph witnesses first-hand her mother's brave (or reckless0 behavior in her attempts to expose the rest of the world to the suffering of the real victims of conflict.

Based loosely on the autobiographical experiences of former press photographer turned filmmaker Erik Poppe (TROUBLED WATER), 1,000 TIMES GOOD NIGHT takes a more conventionally sentimental route in this ideals versus family drama. It is easy to see why Poppe has chosen to make his photojournalist a woman since a male protagonist would be more easily viewed as selfish and reckless, but one feels that the overall conflict has been dumbed down by co-production compromises (it has Norwegian, Swedish, and Irish backing) and film festival ambitions. There is a level of psychological complexity with Rebecca even admitting to Marcus that she cannot explain how she can put herself in harm's way (other than instinct) - she also vaguely describes it to Steph as something she started that she must finish - and paralleling the family's fear that they could lose her with the moment-to-moment uncertainty of the victims of conflict (Steph tells her mother that if she were dead the family could "just be sad together"). While one can imagine that it would be easy to identify with the nobility of the character's convictions, it does not translate well to screen and Binoche deserves better. The ending could have been effective with its despairing final shot if it had not been preceded with an attempted heart-warming semi-resolution of the family conflict. U2's Larry Mullen Jr. has a small role as one of Rebecca's friends.

Eric Cotenas

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Theatrical Release: 24 October 2014 (USA)

 

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DVD Review: Film Movement - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

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Distribution

Film Movement

Region 1 - NTSC

Runtime 1:57:16
Video

2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 6.96 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate

Audio English Dolby Digital 5.1; English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles none
Features Release Information:
Studio: Film Movement

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1

Edition Details:
• Behind the Scenes (16:9; 8:10)
• Interview with director Erik Poppe and actress Juliet Binoche (16:9; 4:52)
• Interview with director Erik Poppe (16:9; 14:18)
• Interview with actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (16:9; 5:08)
• Interview with actress Lauryn Canny (16:9; 7:11)
• Biographies for Erik Poppe, Juliet Binocche, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
• Theatrical Trailer (16:9; 1:35)
• Film Movement Trailers

DVD Release Date: 23 December 2014
Amaray

Chapters 12

 

 

 

Comments

Film Movement's mid-range bitrate, progressive, anamorphic transfer is superficially good-looking, but blacks are noisy, minor edge enhancement is evident throughout, and there is a glaring instance of moire on the beaded curtain in Steph's bedroom in long shots. The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is busy during the action scenes and also keeps the surrounds active in the more placid scenes in Ireland with atmosphere and music (more intimate dialogue scenes recede to the front channels). There are no optional English subtitles, but the disc does contain closed captioning for those whose players support them via HDMI (or for viewers watching with older equipment), although they erroneously refer to Stig as Steve and Lisa occasionally as Lise (presumably due to Binoche's and Coster-Waldau's accents).

Extras consist of a rather shapeless behind the scenes segment and four interviews for Swedish television. Poppe and Binoche appear together discussing the film's central conflict (with Binoche discussing motivations and Poppe giving context from his past as a photojournalist), Poppe discusses more about his background and intentions for the film in a longer solo interview, while Coster-Waldau reveals that he was originally cast in the film when it was to be shot in Norway but had to bow out due to a scheduling conflict only to be asked again by the time the project was rewritten to be set in Ireland, and Canny discusses her enthusiasm for landing her first feature role (and it's challenges) while also revealing that the Kenya scenes were shot in Morocco. The disc also includes the cast and crew bios, film's trailer, and trailers for other Film Movement releases (but no customary short bonus film this time around).

  - Eric Cotenas

 


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DVD Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

 

 

Distribution

Film Movement

Region 1 - NTSC

 



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