[email protected] An unusual true drama, brought to the screen in muted tones by a very capable young cast. This piece challenges social mores, and may well be upsetting to those who cherish or idealise the innocence of youth. The film very candidly explores youth sexuality and notions of family, and in so doing asks questions that the viewer is expected to answer for themselves. Some viewers who are no longer in their youth themselves may be surprised and discomfited by the views and attitudes held by the youths depicted. I have been made to think about my own views and prejudices, and have not yet resettled my mind. I was, however, inexorably drawn in to explore the concepts of their world, and therefore forced to think. Part of their world has a seductive freedom, and part of it is deeply disturbing.

donwc1996 This is the kind of film that I want to get away from virtually every minute I am watching it but there is so much nudity, frontal, rear, sideways, that I remain glued to my chair anxiously awaiting the next shot of pubic hair. The story, which apparently is based on true events that occurred in France, is an absolute mess. Who can even begin to follow it? There are so many flashbacks, flash forwards and flash everything else that you just sit there enjoying all the nubile flesh in its various contortions which are quite varied and utterly shocking, frankly. I'm such a small town prude. Just can't help it. The lead, a stunning young French girl is never boring to look at but you do want to strangle her she gets on your nerves so much.

madcardinal Very French! This film embraces the physical reality of living just as conspicuously as American films avoid it. The film centers on five young adults: Lucie, her bisexual brother Pierre, and their friends Nicolas, Sebastien and Baptiste. The young men play together in a band and enjoy rocking local audiences. The viewer has to pay attention - the film is part murder mystery and follows Lucie's thoughts in the form of flashbacks. I'd recommend watching it twice: first for immersion and second for appreciation and understanding.In terms of cinematography, this movie is beautiful - featuring sumptuous, rich color. The beautiful actors add to the appeal, but other reviewers have made slightly too much of their attractiveness. I could go to my local shopping mall on a busy night and find five young adults as physically fit and attractive as the main actors in "Chacun sa nuit." The difference is in the U.S. - with its current of quirky religious extremism, its tendency towards irrational hysteria, and its servile pandering to pressure groups - it would be extremely difficult to craft a movie as honest and authentic as "Chacun sa nuit." (It is worth noting that this film is based on real events.) Let's just say the French are often very forthright in depicting the physical beauty that is the special province of young adulthood, and they reveal it without censorship or hand-wringing. All the nudity is positive in tone.Because of our strong vein of Puritanical dualism, Americans often make films that pit the soul and body (or two characters representing soul and body) in a battle against each other. Have you ever noticed how many U.S. films feature a pitched showdown between an impossibly good character and an impossibly bad character? French films, on the other hand, often feature the soul and body complementing and informing each other - in effect going off to explore together. This often makes it easier for French film-makers to celebrate and savor life in their movies - including accepting the sexual aspects of living. Also, there is no aversion to sorrow.The relationships here are not Disney-fied, rather they are intense and intimate. Pierre and Lucie as brother and sister are devoted to each other; they stop a millimeter short of full-blown incest. Some of the dialog between the two comes perilously close to being pretentious. But everything is incredibly poignant to the point where you almost feel you could reach out to the screen and touch them.But all is not rainbows, poetry and love-making in provincial France. Someone hustles for money on the side and there is a murder - seediness and iniquity thereby enter in. The solution to the murder implies what may be an unanswerable series of questions: 1) Does untrammeled freedom lead to the total evaporation of morals? 2) Is there an extreme Puritan inside all of us demanding that we "punish" ourselves and others for celebrating freedom, welcoming sexual joy, and savoring life? 3) Could an overzealous desire for freedom and an internalized pious tyrant be toxic co-conspirators paving the way to ruin? "Chacun sa nuit" is a film to indulge in - like a bottle of Bordeaux with a sirloin roast.

agmancuso We're told this was based on a true story. Okay. The potential was there for a truly powerful, shattering film. Well, it isn't. However, I stayed glued to the screen due to the beauty of the cast. The girl, a throwback to the cookie females of the 60's and the boys one more cinematic than the other. It is difficult to guess - and why should anyone care - the intention of the filmmakers. An art film this is not and it's not a commercial venture, not really. If money was their objective they could have gone all the way. No. The film sort of works because one feels titilated by those eyes and those looks. So if their intention was to titillate they succeeded, big time. I wish this story could be re told with the same cast but with a great imaginative, powerful filmmaker at the helm.