Claire Denis' FRIDAY NIGHT, a fantasy that follows a woman into a one-night stand, is an adaptation of the popular novel by Emmanuelle Bernheim who also cowrote the story with Denis. Dreamy and confused, the film begins as Laure (Valerie Lemercier) is packing up her Paris apartment and preparing to move. The chaos of this situation leads directly into the next, as Laure gets in her car and begins to drive across town to a dinner party, only to become stuck in a massive traffic jam. As radio reports continue to stress the drastic and unbreakable gridlock that has Paris literally locked in the streets, a rainstorm blurs Laure's vision. Suddenly, a stranger (Vincent Lindon) approaches on foot, and she offers him a ride. But they're not going anywhere, just smoking, and sitting idle. Eventually Laure calls her friends and cancels on the dinner party, leaving her Friday night wide open to follow whatever path it may take.

A master at building tension and suspense, Denis creates so much chemistry between Laure and her fantasy man that viewers may await a turn to violence or something shockingly unexpected. However, that nervous and mysterious feeling just builds as the ambiguous story of FRIDAY NIGHT continues and a seemingly banal situation--a traffic jam on a rainy Friday--becomes a magical adventure.

Theatrical release: June 20, 2003 (NY/LA)

This film screened in October 2002 in the 40th New York Film Festival organized by The Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City.

DVD Features:

Region 0
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - French
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentary - 1. Claire Denis - Director, Kent Jones
Trailers
Interactive Features:
Scene Access
Interactive Menus
Text/Photo Galleries:
Filmographies
DVD-ROM Features:
Web Links

Valerie Lemercier: 
Vincent Lindon: French Actor

Claire Denis: French Director

Bruno Pesery: POLA X

Claire Denis: French Director
Emmanuelle Bernheim: French Screenwriter, UNDER THE SAND (2001)

"...It's fully engaged filmmaking that's impossible to dismiss..."
"...Uniquely seductive..."
"...A happy, femme-centric, refreshingly mature erotic tale..."
"...Exquisite....A beautifully made meditation on the themes of emotion, mood and state of mind..."
"Both elusive and intense....It is also a rare and affecting representation of female desire..."