Day Night Day Night (dir. Julia Loktev)

2007, 92 minutes
w/ Luisa Williams
[Julia Loktev's first feature film is the second best debut I've seen this year next to another female's (Sarah Polley) Away From Her. I've heard Day Night Day Night been called a thriller which is pretty narrow-minded thinking and am more comfortable proclaiming it a minimalist art film, small in scope but large in execution. DNDN follows Luisa Williams' nameless character as she prepares to set off a bomb in Times Square (religious reasons being the only distinct motivation implied), effectively killer herself and others. The first 50 minutes or so is made up of long shots of sleeping, bathing, brushing of teeth and eating pizza with less than a page of dialogue. This is the set up. "She" is released to Times Square for her mission and this is around the time I realized a correlation between the pic and The Passion of Joan of Arc, especially considering the constant shots of our heroine's face. The last 30 to 40 minutes are spent on Times Square, which takes unexpected turns and includes genuinely sweet moments as well as due suspense. SPOILERS FOLLOW: After a long time of stalling and enjoying her thought to be last minutes on Earth, she attempts to set off the bomb in her backpack but the remote control doesn't work, arguably due to a problem in the set up, a time she was hit very hard by a passer by or a rather popular theory that it was all a scam. After a few more attempts she tries to call (what I assume to be) her parents, and from it comes one of the most effortlessly poignant sequences of the year, simply of different NY passersby denying her and offering her a quarter as she desperately tries to garner enough to make another call. Afterwards, there's a hilarious scene where a guy follows her, talking incessantly and flirting while she keeps trying to out walk him for a few blocks. By now, the suspense is off and it becomes clear that the film is following a blueprint of Joan of Arc, as she questions God "why he doesn't want her?" She asks for a sign, and the majority of viewers would agree that the sign is the bomb not blowing up and she's still alive, while it's certainly not my place to judge the thoughts she and those who watched that share her beliefs must have had. Loktev ends on this uncompromising note, with the last close ups of Williams' face and a quiet shot of the city around her. Luisa Williams gives a fearless perf that was necessary for the film's success.]

***1/4