[critical] THE NIGHT BELONGS to US

New York, end of the years 80. Bobby is the young boss of a nightclub belonging to the Russians. With the explosion of drug trafficking, the Russian mafia extended its influence on the world of the night.

To continue its ascent, Bobby has to hide his links with his family. Only his girlfriend, Amada is aware of : his brother, Joseph, and his father, Burt, are prominent members of the new york police…

Every day, the confrontation between the Russian mafia and the police is more violent, and in the face of threats against his family, Bobby will have to choose sides…

Author’s Note

[rating:10/10]

• Release Date : November 28, 2007

• Directed by James Gray

• Film American

• With Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall, Eva Mendes

• Duration : 1h54min

• Original title : We Own the Night

• Trailer :

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– Yes, but you did not love the movie because it is popular.

– Uh… No. I did not like it because it is shit.

– But no ! It is because you spoke about or that you have seen the trailer too many times.

This is the typical example of a rich dialogue in which I often face when I talk about certain movies with knowledge. For the context of things, I am the person who argues very well, and that brings elements of answer to strong, sought after, constructed, and credible summed up in the phrase “this is shit”. I know that my quality of speaker I have often been flattered. This is this is. But this uninteresting piece of life customary of my critics has, as always, is important : it allows me to make the transition with the different experience that I had when I saw THE NIGHT BELONGS to US.

In fact, it is a film that I had heard the greater good and praised for some of its scenes. “The car chase” was one I heard the most about. Climax supposed to mark the history and demonstrate all the capabilities and the extent of the talent of the director, I must admit that, this time, the result was at the height of my expectations. I certainly a low-and a tendency to judge a film on the technique and staging, but here, it is clear that the deed from James Gray is without equal. The technical skill is beyond anything that has been able to do before. The realization is a summit in itself, and its reduces to the bare minimum, brings a touch of realism to the stunning. One is then added to the set of actors which are coming, which is rare in an action, you will agree, by their replicas, to make the moment even more striking, and one gets a flash of genius, a bubble of perfect mastery which fits in a key moment of the story. The shape and the background coalesce perfectly at the right time.

Gray takes to reverse the codes of a classic scene ultra canonized, appropriated and exceeds all expectations. The strength of the film lies in this : despite everything that has been said, it proves to be even better. Succeed to surprise and nail the viewer is a force that is rare and demonstrates the power of the film that can only be worn by the number of viewing and the knowledge of some of the scenes.

This feat continues when one looks at the history. Yet very classic, it is here magnified and intense. But it is a point of contention. It is here that some viewers will find credit for the depreciation of the film. In effect a “It’s not bad, but the story is too well known. The tragedies, of the agreement, the films of the mafia, okay, detective films, okay, but it is good we already saw a lot and Scorsese has done most of the work.” So yes, the story may seem trivial (in the world of film, eh !), and in the end, put off a few people tired. But fan of the genre or not, should be commended all the same Gray for his ability to always be closer to his characters and bringing to life the tragedy of a great T. He has always known, since Little Odessa, proving its perfect mastery of a kind of history of which he is capable of exploiting the purest quintessence, to make it a deeply moving and intense scenario.

It is in the classic the more hard, but so well done, that one can only welcome it and embrace it. Catharsis reborn, the subject is timeless, the producer appears as a new head of the police drama classic from the great era. And this classicism also allows you to indulge in a film genre defined by the word sobriety : class, precise, concise and sharply defined, in Gray, the film is controlled end-to-end and re-enters in a dynamic of perfect mastery.

This mastery is of course still in the implementation stage. The achievement, as mentioned above, is to fly high. And there, it is time to mention Yann Gozlan, who, during his appearance on the show “My favorite scene” of the site Allociné, quoted the scene where Joaquin Phoenix is spilled in a laboratory drug. He could not help but commend the remarkable work, both at the level of the picture, the precision of the framing and the pace of the sound. The mixture of these elements gives a feeling of weightlessness and heaviness at the same time. And again, in reviewing the scene is inscribed in the continuity of the film later, I could not agree more with regard to this and overwhelmed. The voltage generated, the ability to grasp the space in a few shots of cameras and create a scene from the anthology are still there a proof of the quality of the film, able to exceed all expectations to remain engraved and surprising each time it is viewed. We realise then that we are faced with a classic film, which a posteriori becomes an.

These are two examples of scenes but a third (among many others), the final scene, may have its place during the technical analysis of the masterpiece. Beautiful, intense, colorful, controlled, it sums up all the talent Gray has proven the length of the film. Because yes, some shards appear, but the quality of the implementation file on the film as a whole in a perfect metaphor for the splendor of the work carried out by James Gray : end-to-end, there is nothing to complain about.

This accuracy and this precision dry is found in the acting. But do I really need to develop a whole paragraph to try to express the talent of Joaquin Phoenix, the real core of the story around which the conductor of the fates, meet, break and form, always huge, sensitive, end, endearing and so right throughout the film, that it eclipses even Robert Duvall (Shit, Robert Duvall anyway !)? No. But I realize that make a great sentence incomprehensible, yes.

True author said, a screenwriter and a talented director more than dexterous, James Gray gives us a diamond in the classic elegant, dry, minimalist, worked, coherent, beautiful, intense, and entering entering fully into a line which he respects and plays with the codes. Oxymoron in the landscape of the classic genre the work is complete and fascinating : the touch of the director is palpable, successful, recognizable, and felt good. In short, a pure jewel of that genre to see, review and review again.