Sleepless Night (Frédéric Jardin, 2011): Belgium

Reviewed by Sofia Arnbom. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, 2012.

Claustrophobic, breathless chase, terrifying and absolutely awesome. That is the way I would describe Frédéric Jardin’s Sleepless Night. Not once in the movie Jardin makes the tension brake as we follow a desperate father (Tomer Sisley) through a nightclub without a way out or plan. Our protagonist has to use different kinds of actions such as; run, hide or fight as he meets a lot of players in the movie. He has to use these kinds of actions a lot.

The movie starts with a carchase about a bag with drugs were we get to meet two dirty cops, Vincent (Tomer Sisley) and Manuel (Laurent Stocker) as they steal the drugs from criminals. They are intending to sell the cocaine to earn some money. During this event Vincent gets recognized and this leads to José Marciano, a nightclub owner and the right owner of the drugs, kidnaps the son of Vincent, Thomas. Marciano wants to use the son as an exchange for the drugs. But Vincent wants to play smart, so he arrives to the nightclub with the coke but hides it in the men´s restroom and uses it as a leverage.

It was a smart move until Vincent discovers that the coke is missing before he can get his son back. That leads into a deperate chase to get the dope back and save his son while the bad guys are chasing him through the nightclub. And on top of that another dirty cop and some mobsters trying to buy the drugs back at the club aswell.

Vincent does everything to get his son back. He beats down one of his colleagues and locks her up in a fridge, while he is getting more and more desperate and his plans are failing again and again. As long as he can keep his opponents at bay and escape he has a chande to achive his goal. He is not a very good cop and that is what makes this so entertaining. It is unbelievable what you can achieve with a lot of will. It is an amazing movie because Jardin really makes us feel the anger and desperation that Vincent have. There is barley any time to breath in this movie. There is no time to rest.

I am very impressed by the movements of the camera. It is always moving and trying to catch all the actions. There are several shots in the nightclub at the dancefloor who is crowded with people. It is amazing how Jardin keeps track of our characters in the crowd. There are some scenes where Jardin crosses the line when there is too much violence. It makes it too brutal. The nightclub is an excellent place for this movie, all the different kinds of rooms has different atmospheres.    This really is a masterpiece.

The director makes it impossible to loose interest in the movie. It is one of the best movies in the festival. It suits everyone who is looking for an unforgetable adventure.