It’s oddly comforting to remember that winter has always been a madness-inducing hellscape. These days, we have our various coping mechanisms: Netflix, sleeping 18 hours a day, drinking all of our feelings while watching Netflix during the six hours we’re awake, yelling at loved ones because we can’t yell at the snow (without serious consequences, I mean), and, oh yes, central heating. But back in 1908, shit was a lot bleaker. The first trailer for Nobody Wants The Night—which we've previously shared will open the 65th annual Berlin International Film Festival on Feb. 5—shows this to bone-chilling effect.
Based on a true story (though it’s not yet clear how faithful it’ll be to that story), the film follows Josephine Peary (Juliette Binoche), who embarks on a “perilous journey to the Arctic north” to find her missing husband, adventurer Robert Peary (whose character isn't credited anywhere on IMDb, which bodes very poorly for his rescue). According to IndieWire, the official synopsis describes Robert as a man who “prefers glory and ice to the comforts of an upper-class home”; in other words, Robert is out of his damn mind. But his wife still loves him, bless her heart, and is willing to risk freezing to death to find him. Can’t say I’d do the same, Josephine. More power to you, girlfriend.
But there’s a twist! When Josephine arrives after a monthlong, frigid sea-crossing during which she had no Netflix to speak of but did sport some dope winter fashions (see photo above), she meets Allaka (Rinko Kikuchi), an Inuit woman who’s expecting Robert’s kid. Robert! But Allaka takes Josephine in, because it’s fucking cold out and, if you’ve ever solemnly embraced a stranger on an L platform to generate body heat, you’ll understand that feeling cold trumps feeling awkward. The two then begin a “long, tense wait for the man they both love in such different ways.” Here’s the trailer—please grab a sweater and a strong drink before watching.
The trail of the tape
Title: Nobody Wants The Night
Director: Isabel Coixet
Screenwriters: Miguel Barros
Cast: Juliette Binoche, Rinko Kikuchi, Gabriel Byrne
Release date: TBD
The entire trailer in one line of dialogue: “My hands…froze…Mrs. Peary.” [Binoche sobs and runs]
The entire trailer in one screengrab:
Makes negative 30-degree wind chills look great, right? No, I know, I'm just trying to make us feel better.
The cast and crew here are encouraging: Director Isabel Coixet, who’s presented previous films like My Life Without Me and Elegy at the Berlinale, shot the film in Bulgaria, Norway, Spain, and my waking nightmares with longtime collaborator Jean-Claude Larrieu. For her part, Binoche has carried more than her fair share of period pieces—The English Patient (for which she won an Oscar), Chocolat, and Dan In Real Life (…), to name a few—and she’s recently garnered praise for her performance in Clouds Of Sils Maria. On the whole, Nobody Wants The Night looks beautifully rendered, if not a cautionary tale on what happens if you marry somebody whose job title is just “adventurer.”