EIFF 2012: Sleepless Night

Jang Kun-jae continues to impress following his Dragons & Tigers award for first feature Eighteen; here with a tender reflection on the drama contained within everyday domesticity. This Sleepless Night is actually an extended period in the lives of a young married couple contemplating parenthood. Although seemingly a gentle piece, the emotions here are true and raw. Loving gazes and caresses develop into cold turned backs and tears, all performed with subtlety and authenticity by Kim Soo-hyeon and Kim Ju-Ryoung. Imagery is thoughtful and precise, framed like still image art. The camera work has a static elegance, then for a moment becomes dynamic and ragged, taking a serrated edge to a dire imagined future. Pieces of set divide the screen, and significantly the couples on it. Jang weighs his drama well and serves it as a simple 65-minute picture, admirably refusing to stretch unnecessarily to feature length. This is a small pool, but deep. As in Raymond Carver’s short stories, the details are in seemingly throwaway words and gestures. Everything has consequence. [Alan Bett]