All things come to those who wait. We have been waiting for news of Endless Night (formerly known as Nobody Wants the Night/Nadie quiere la noche), starring Juliette Binoche, Gabriel Byrne, and Rinko Kikuchi, ever since its debut at the Berlinale in 2015. A lukewarm reception at that festival led to a re-cut of the film by director Isabel Coixet and now it has reappeared on the film horizon. Finally!
Endless Night makes its UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival June 24 and 25.
From the official EIFF brochure:
Isabel Coixet’s impressively mounted period drama features moving and striking central performances from Juliette Binoche and Rinko Kikuchi, as two women – one a loyal high society wife and the other a generous Inuit – bonded in the love for the same man but who find themselves stuck in a remote Arctic outpost as bad weather looms. Coixet heavily re-edited (it opened year’s Berlin Film Festival, titled Nobody Wants the Night) into an enthralling and magnificently staged drama.
A glowing review gives us hope for wider distribution of this film!
Mary Durkacz/The Edinburgh Reporter:
A lush, extravagant, brilliant triumph of a drama, Spanish director Isabel Coixet’s Endless Night transfixes and mesmerises.
…The plot follows the transformation in the women’s relationship, appearance and attitude as the polar winter progresses. An epic feast for the eyes, the cinematography is simply stunning and my single disappointment is that no Aurora Borealis was shown.
Helen Earnshaw over at Female First recommends several women directors to keep an eye on at EIFF this year and I think Isabel Coixet is her favorite:
Isabel Coixet is no stranger to the director’s chair with the likes of Another Me and Yesterday Never Ends under her belt in recent years.
Endless Night is one of two films that we are going to see her direct this year as Learning To Drive is set to hit the big screen here in the UK later this summer.
Endless Night sees the filmmaker tackle a period drama as she teams up with Oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche, who takes on the central role of Josephine Peary.
Binoche is joined on the cast list by Gabriel Byrne, Rinko Kikuchi, Matt Salinger, and Velizar Binev.
Josephine (Binoche) travels to the hostile icy landscape of the remote North in search of her explorer husband. As winter descends and determined not to turn back she finds companionship with an Inuit woman (Kikuchi).
With the elements against them and their survival reliant on each other it becomes clear they are waiting for a man they both love.
Of all of the female filmmakers on the programme at the festival this year, Coixet is one of the most experienced and I cannot wait to see what she delivers with Endless Night.
Gabriel Byrne as Bram Trevor
Stay tuned for more news and reviews. We are all very excited, I know, to see this film at last!
Stella, thank you for this article. I had often wondered what happened to this film. I guess Gabriel Byrne does not play a big part in the film, but even so I would still like to see it.
Kris (Australia)
I love this director. Hopefully the film will appear at some North American film festivals soon.
Angelle (Canada)