On the face of it, Delphine Girard’s debut feature Quitter La Nuit (Through The Night) might remind one of Gustav Moller’s Oscar-short-listed Danish thriller The Guilty. That’s because the situation at the start of both films is quite similar, something that would be a common occurrence at a police emergency call desk. Anna (Veerle Baetens), a 911 operator, receives a call one night from a woman who keeps pretending that she is talking to her sister.
Anna guesses she is not alone, is in danger and asks her a series of questions that need to be answered only in ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to figure out that the lady has been assaulted and is in captivity. Help is sent, the woman Aly (Selma Alaoui) is taken to safety and the man Dary (Guillaume Duhesme) is arrested. From here on the film charts an entirely different course. It becomes all about the repercussions of that one night for Aly.
The tension-filled, edge-of-the-seat thriller makes way for an intriguing, exploratory drama. The Belgium-France co-production won the Audience Award at the parallel Giornate Degli Autori at the Venice Film Festival. Girard doesn’t focus on the crime itself but on the responses to and explanation of it.
It is about the versions of the incident as narrated by the survivor and the alleged perpetrator. It is about how they get interpreted by those around them and, in turn, the audience. It is about the ensuing haziness, confusion, doubt, and suspicion which doesn’t just cloud the judgment of people in general but also plays mind games with those directly involved. In the light of the “she said-he said” scenario, justice is delayed, with the survivor finding herself at the receiving end of harassment beyond the original act of violation.
The insensitive investigation and trial raise the expected questions. Was it forced or consensual sex? Did she invent the rape in her head? Why would she do that if she did? Could a fireman who saves others do something so heinous? How can the protector become a predator? It’s a nightmare that carries on beyond the fateful night as the hunt for evidence and court proceedings start. It’s not just the characters on screen but also the viewers’ own morality, ethics, ideals, and beliefs that are put to trial.
Through The Night is built on conversation and argumentation. The track involving Anna’s own interest in the case feels needless and the resolution plays out way too fast. It feels like a convenient way to bring resolution to a situation that was needlessly complicated to begin with. Despite that, the film hits home hard and derives its energy, heart and soul from bravura performances by Alaoui and Duhesme. The bursts of anger and hostility, restlessness, and resignation, Duhesme makes them all palpable on screen.
The fear and desperation emanating from her persistent violent struggle—physical as well as psychological—with Dary in the car (filmed from behind in the dark, we don’t see their faces fully), the deadpan look of hurt and violation on her face and the heartbreaking assertion that whether she wins or loses the case, nothing can truly help her, nor can she be compensated in any manner for what she had to go through—Alaoui’s eloquent presence makes these emotions resonate profoundly and would make several other real-life survivors be seen and heard.
Through The Night captures the essential loneliness of their struggle and takes a deep dive into their traumas. The film does this by portraying Aly’s moments of self-flagellation and doubts about her own recollection of the assault to understanding her own seemingly unreasonable behaviour, from almost giving up to then deciding to soldier on.
Through The Night is a nuanced glimpse into a situation in which a woman’s onus of proving the guilt of the man far outweighs the man’s responsibility to prove his innocence.
Cinema Without Borders
In this weekly column, the writer introduces you to powerful cinema from across the world
Film: Through The Night