You're Sleeping, Nicole (2014)

The Worst Film Ever

Absolutely the worst movie.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I remember that during the premiere of Tu Dors Nicole at the Cannes Film Festival, many viewers left the theater before the end of the film and some left after only 30 minutes. Does that mean that the film proposed by Stéphane Lafleur is of no interest? After watching it in its entirety, I must say that it isn't the case. His film is full of interesting ideas disseminated throughout the duration. One possible cause of the desertion of the viewers would be the rhythm. Even if the movie is only 93 minutes, the slow pace might irritate some. However, considering the subject (a young woman killing time during summer in the suburb), the pace helps to reflect the odd situations that Nicole (good performance by Julianne Côté) lives and helps to explain her jaded character. We recognize the touch of its director in the universe he presents us with some strange, almost dreamlike, elements that reminds his precedent works such as En Terrains Connus. The soundtrack and the black-and-white cinematography help to give this impression of strangeness from situations or places that are at the same time familiar. There are some elements from the cinematographic language that are used to add relevant symbolism or to amplify the comic tone. The best example would be the character of Martin. This little blond kid in his preteen is endowed with the virile voice of a grown-up. The scenes where he tries to seduce Nicole, who's his babysitter, with some mature speeches are so entertainingly funny and, at the same time, offer a lesson taught by a ten-year-old boy about enjoying the little pleasures of life. The humor works almost every time and is well dosed. Some situations involves misunderstandings between the characters that have at least the merit of making the viewer smile. In the end, with the above-mentioned elements, Tu Dors Nicole is some kind of cinematographic UFO. But the film as a whole works well and depending on the patience of the viewer, it'll prove to be worth the time spent. Just for the atypical character of Martin, the film deserves to be seen and listened to in its entirety.

What a great undiscovered gem. This film captures the lives of the characters (especially that of Nicole) by means of quiet understated scenes that convey perfectly the accumulated stress of sleeplessness, hanging out with the somewhat random group of people we find ourselves with in our early 20s, and the integrity and struggles of the main character. This movie captures life as it is lived. It also captures the casual infliction of slights and hurts that are likely part of every life. Scenes appear at first to be randomly presented but the structure of the plot emerges and, with it, the characters start to become 3 dimensional.

Odd but wonderful Quebecois film about a young woman, Nicole (Julianne Côté), who is spending a lazy summer at her parents' house while they're away. Much of the time her best friend (Catherine St-Laurent) is hanging out with her, and her brother and his two band members also spend most of their time there, practicing. The mood of this film is quite different: it's very quiet, relaxed. You really get the sense of the ennui of Nicole's existence. Many will find it slow, but I found it both lovely and sad. It's also quite funny. Maybe not laugh-out-loud funny, but slyly amusing. The cinematography is a crisp black and white. I loved it.

Tu Dors Nicole (2014): Dir: Stephane Laflear / Cast: Julianne Cote, Marc-Andre Grondin, Catherine St-Laurent, Francis La Haye, Simon Larouche: Boring Canadian film with a title that translates to You're Sleeping, Nicole. She is sleeping and it is allowing her summer to escape. Her name is Nicole, and she is played by Julianne Cote. She is a young adult watching the house while her parents are away but is disturbed when her older brother drops in with his band to record an album. Tension rises when she cannot find peace and quiet and struggles to maintain any sleep schedule. Catherine St-Laurent plays her best friend whom she hopes to spend time with but she becomes distracted by the boys in the band. Marc-Andre Grondin plays Nicole's brother whose band has trouble maintaining a drummer due to his inability to get along. One of his band mates is awaiting to become a father any day now. His new drummer strikes up a few quiet moments with Nicole where she sews his pants. She is an issue all her own. She steals from the thrift shop she works at. She struggles to unlock her bicycle chain. The funniest encounter involves a male tween she babysits who has a crush on her. His voice is deep and adult completely misleading his small stature. Unfortunately the screenplay is dull with director Stephane Laflear often lingering on objects for no apparent reason. The black and white presentation is slick but the music is lousy sounding like something emerging from a jack-in-the-box. While the theme stresses a summer fully going south on this female, the screenplay goes south so fast that viewers are likely to go to sleep. Score: 5 / 10