Nuit Blanche is a fantastic example of how a simple idea can be perfectly and beautifully realised using a combination of classic cinema and 3D graphic technology. The description of the movie states that “Nuit Blanche explores a fleeting moment between two strangers, revealing their brief connection in a hyper real fantasy.”
The movie opens on a black and white skyline and a classically styled title shot. The title of the movie leads us to believe that we are some where in France, most likely one of the arrondissment (suburbs) of Paris. As the movie continues the camera pans from the skyline down to street level where we see that it is a wet night in Paris and the classic style of the titles and dress of the pedestrians leads us to believe we are looking at a scene set in a 50’s style era.
The film starts in a fairly normal way, a man whilst walking along the street notices a woman dining alone in a cafe. The are both dressed in the style of the period and the woman is very classically beautiful. As he continues to gaze at her she glances up from her glass of wine and looks back at him. There is a visible connection between them and as the connect across the street time slows to a crawl. Everything becomes more pronounced and breathtaking as the man begins to walk across the street, the water in the gutter leaping up in slow motion around his steps. Across the road the woman stands from her table never breaking her eyes from the man approaching her, her wine glass falls from her hand smashing across the pure white table.
As the man continues to walk towards her a car drives along the road looking like it will collide directly with him. Everything happens so slowly, and the man seems so unwavering that the tension within the audience rises. The woman too walks unyieldingly towards her emotional interest. As she approaches the window of the cafe again the expectation of the audience builds to a crescendo as she draws closer and closer. She gets so close that she closes her eyes and walks straight through the glass without flinching, almost without noticing.
Every part of the clip so far has had a unison between the male and female characters, as one does one thing, the other completes a similar action. This pattern continues as we cut back to the mans action. The car that was worrying us earlier has approached even closer and looks like it will collided with him imminently. It does. However the car spectaclarly crumples around him in a shower of metal and glass. He does react like he has been hit but mostly seems to be unfazed by the car as the woman continues to capture his full attention.
The figures keep walking, each with a cloud of glass following them as the finally reach one another. They lean in for a kiss as the background begins to spin, eventually coming to rest back on the woman seated in the cafe. A fleeting moment of fantasy. This is one of the most visually spectacular and intriguing videos I have seen in a very long time and it is a joy to watch.
Enjoy.
As I watched it I wondered if all the SFX were really needed. It began to look artificial and became less engaged. I felt that it began to slip into the uncanny valley.
ReplyDeleteI love the concept of a mutual fantasy, I liked the way the slow motion intensified it, I liked it didn't conclude, though I would have bought the lips closer. There is something intense about almost contact.