Photo: Julia Loktev's Day Night Day Night
Like United 93, Day Night Day Night exploits our post-9/11 anxieties. It shuns context and elaborates nothing, existing only to entertain—more specifically, to entertain the idea that there are suicide bombers among us. Writer-director Julia Loktev introduces her nameless main character (referred to as "she" in the final credits) as if she were a distant relative of Rosetta or Keane—shot from the back, her face disclosed from the audience. She is similarly sequestered from the world within the film, huddled in secrecy by masked men into a hotel room, where she is not permitted to look outside the window, meticulously showering, brushing her teeth, and disposing her toiletries. By now, even those who haven't read the film's synopsis will understand that this beautiful young girl is prepping for the last day of her life. Ed Gonzalez
Like United 93, Day Night Day Night exploits our post-9/11 anxieties. It shuns context and elaborates nothing, existing only to entertain—more specifically, to entertain the idea that there are suicide bombers among us. Writer-director Julia Loktev introduces her nameless main character (referred to as "she" in the final credits) as if she were a distant relative of Rosetta or Keane—shot from the back, her face disclosed from the audience. She is similarly sequestered from the world within the film, huddled in secrecy by masked men into a hotel room, where she is not permitted to look outside the window, meticulously showering, brushing her teeth, and disposing her toiletries. By now, even those who haven't read the film's synopsis will understand that this beautiful young girl is prepping for the last day of her life. Ed Gonzalez
