J'ai Pas Sommeil (I Can't Sleep)

One of the earlier films of Claire Denis, made in 1994. Perhaps thought of largely as one of her minor works, we absolutely adored it, so can only await with even greater anticipation those considered her 'best'.
We have here a film of a lack of homeliness. There is an uncanniness about the film, three characters, none of who can find themselves a home. Let us take them in turn.
The standout story and the standout performance is Daiga, played by Yekaterina Golubeva. She exists in the gaps, in the silences, in the spaces she manages to create around her even when all are shouting and telling her what to do. She is rejected but we don't so much 'feel sorry' as come to understand her own impetuosity, little cruelties, and non always particularly attractive attitude. This really is a performance of the highest type, with few lines but a wonderful comportment of serene, but bodily close, detachment. We feel detached with her. The scene of dancing with her landlord is one of the most physical, sweetest in memory. All the senses work.
Alex Descas playing Theo is good, though perhaps a little more power would have done no harm. He has a story of homelessness that seems more to do with his personality than his situation (perhaps why the latter is not really explained).
Camille, played by Richard Courcet, will have the most attention, and his character indeed has a curiousity. His character is also the most out of reach, the most distant. The terrible acts at once come out of knowehere and don't seem to jar too heavily...it is uncanny. The powerful scene of his performance art is perhaps the best evocation of his unhomeliness, from even his own body.
Denis technique is one of observation rather than identification, though this of course does not stop us becoming deeply involved with the characters. Her use of lighting and mis-en-scene is interesting; the sets are cluttered with thousands of different shapes and colours, a messy world, but one where things are sharp and nothing jumps out too vivdly (better to say it is all vivd, but seen through a glass). An individual style, not immediately beautiful, though some of the night time scenes are undoubtedly that. She explores the body, we feel it at times but always as an 'other' as watching rather than the watched. We never get too up close to a character, often seeing them from behind.
This is a tentative film in some ways, this not always being a bad themes. Themes are touched, ambiguities enter, we move in directions, never take the path down. Denis is in no hurry, and her narrative structure is not sharp. This gives a wonderful, again uncanny, occasionally atmosphere of a sober daytime with strong memories still of a drinking night...
A fascinating film, the character of Daiga was adored, the whole piece had some much more intelligence and artistry than we perhaps expected. We may have pointed out a few aspects which come across as criticisms, but with these included we perversely felt so much more out of this film than many we could not fault. Powerful, beautiful.