User reviews

War photographer Rebecca (Juliette Binoche) is one of the best at her job, obtaining the kind of pictures that invariably get published in western magazines as examples of the violence of conflicts in nonwestern areas such as Afghanistan or Kenya. The only snag is that Rebecca is so obsessed with her work that she cannot understand the damage she is doing to her family back in Ireland, especially her daughter Steph (Lauryn Canny).

The conflict between personal and professional values forms the kernel of Erik Poppe's film. Yet thematically speaking the director is far more interested in prompting reflection on the photographer's trade. While Rebecca certainly shows a good deal of bravery in trying to get the best pictures, we also understand that she is something of a voyeur who actively enjoys intruding into her subjects' personal space. Her fondness for the close-up of suffering people is quite disconcerting, especially in a sequence taking place in the back of an SUV in Afghanistan. In political terms, she adopts a neocolonialist position of the westerner taking scopophilic pleasure in the power she exerts through her camera.

Perhaps the film's most telling moment occurs back in Ireland, when Steph turns the camera on Rebecca and photographs her repeatedly. Rebecca cannot endure the experience of the lens pointing at her in such an intense manner and turns her head away, her eyes filling with tears. Would that Rebecca might understand that her subjects could feel much the same; but if she did so, then she would not be good at her job.

Given the integrity with which Poppe examines this issue, it's rather sad that the film as a whole should be somewhat melodramatic. In the end the action descends into something of a tug-of-love battle between mother and family; at one point Rebecca bundles Steph and her younger sister Lisa (Adrianna Cramer Curtis) in a pathetic attempt to abduct them from their family home. Needless to say husband Marcus (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) foils the plot and eventually looks after the girls himself.

The film makes a half-hearted attempt to draw a parallel between Rebecca's wanderlust and the rhythms of the tide (her daughter observes that the photographer is like the sea, coming and going), but unfortunately outstays its welcome: the last half-hour unfolds slowly but predictably towards an inevitable denouement. This is a shame, given the seriousness of its basic premise - almost as if director Poppe had lost the courage of his convictions.

Slow-moving, introspective tale about an experienced war-time photographer returning home after an assignment gone wrong. While convalescing she must deal with her husband's increasing intolerance, her oldest daughter's silent protests, her youngest's anxiety, and her own ambivalence towards her occupation. Although A Thousand Times Good Night is constantly relevant and ostensibly probing, the family issues that are dealt with here are so familiar to moviegoers and so conventionally handled that they turn the film into an hour's worth of melodrama, book-ended by some potentially very interesting war-time segments that aren't given enough time or context to warrant the sensationalism that Poppe implements in them. To cut it short, the film is somewhat ill-focused. What does shine through and partly works, however, is Poppe's tribute to war correspondents, and their importance. But due to the lack of context, even the in-action sequences feel somewhat staged. Poppe tries to contrast his female photographer's work with her domestic problems - which are comparatively trivial both in essence and in their presentation - but although the appreciation of them may be important to and defining for the teenage daughter, they remain rather obvious and unnecessary elaborate to us.

Wow 2 hours that felt like 3 hours. Juliette Binoche is a fine actress but this is tedious and slow. Odd mix here, how are the kids Irish exactly? Works best when Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (the dad) is off screen and she is abroad taking her pictures. Too much domestic, not enough Juliette getting shot at. Ending scene was kinda powerful. Rare movie that Binoche doesnt smoke in.

War photographer Rebecca (Juliette Binoche) is filming a female suicide bomber's preparations. The bombing goes wrong and she is severely hurt. Back home with her family, her husband Marcus (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) is struggling to hold it together. He demands that she stop endangering herself. She relents and goes on a safe job in Kenya with their daughter Steph (Lauryn Canny). When gunshots ring out, she can't resist.

This is a quiet poignant performance from Binoche. The wars have taken a toll on her and it shows in her eyes. She has this haunted look that is so effective in this movie. I wish the movie pushed the drama more because the story needs a more definitive climax. At one point, Rebecca takes her two daughters in her car. I really wish she had driven off with the girls. It's an opportunity to elevate the drama if she could break down at that point and then later return the kids home. It would make the final decision even more poignant.