Tu dors Nicole (Stéphane Lafleur, 2014)

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domino harvey
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Tu dors Nicole (Stéphane Lafleur, 2014)

#1 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 01, 2015 11:23 pm

I enjoyed Lafleur's previous film, 2011's En terrains connus, which gave a small-scale portrait of season affective disorder as manifested in the quaint backroads of Quebec (plus car dealers who may or may not be from the future), but Tu dors Nicole is operating on a whole other level. And season. Here is one of the best films I've seen about something commonplace and universal: the season of summer itself. Hot asphalt, bike rides to nowhere, late night jaunts to abandoned playgrounds and ice cream shops, all with the summer sounds filtering in and out of the soundtrack. Our protagonist, the titular Nicole, wanders through an extended summer reprieve from her parents, left to housesit their shared home only to have it quickly overtaken by her brother's band as practice space. The film becomes awash with tune-ups, sound checks, and, in one of the funniest scenes, a never ending drum beat made all the more absurd for how well everyone quickly acclimates themselves to the annoyance. The film develops a distancing approach to its comic tone and yet still pulls itself in with surprising frequency to deliver big laughs and payoffs. But ultimately the film works best if viewed in miniature. This is a film to treasure in delight at every quirky and yet realistically realized idea present. Take the scene wherein Nicole, on one of her late night aimless saunters through the suburban neighborhood, sees the same car circle her block over and over, the vehicle emitting a bizarre soundscape from within. The car eventually stops and Nicole approaches the vehicle, only to discover a perfectly logical and welcome explanation that I won't spoil. The scene, like the film at large, works because it never goes down the easy or cheap route of plot mechanics, but seems to be accumulating a series of fascinating examples of the vibrantly mundane. This is one of the most extraordinary ordinary films I've ever seen.

Filmed in black and white, it looks beautiful (and Lafleur gets the most out of framing Julianne Côté in impossibly fetching, Tumblr-ready shots), and the English-subbed (for the feature) Canadian Blu replicates the sights and sounds marvelously, though IMDB tells me it will be opening in New York later this month for those who can somehow wait to have this in their life. It's early yet but I doubt this will leave my list of best films of the year.

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domino harvey
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Re: Kino

#2 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 26, 2015 1:27 pm

Kino will be releasing my favorite film of the year so far, Tu dors Nicole, on Blu-ray October 27th

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Der Spieler
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Re: Kino

#3 Post by Der Spieler » Sun Aug 30, 2015 5:05 pm

domino harvey wrote:Kino will be releasing my favorite film of the year so far, Tu dors Nicole, on Blu-ray October 27th
Glad to see Quebec cinema shining abroad. :)

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Re: Kino

#4 Post by artfilmfan » Mon Aug 31, 2015 10:15 pm

domino harvey wrote:Kino will be releasing my favorite film of the year so far, Tu dors Nicole, on Blu-ray October 27th
Thanks for the post. This seems like an interesting film. I'm looking forward to seeing it. It's exciting to be looking forward to seeing something new, instead of the re-re-releases (AKA upgrades) of films I already own.

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Kirkinson
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Re: Kino

#5 Post by Kirkinson » Tue Sep 01, 2015 1:37 am

domino harvey wrote:Kino will be releasing my favorite film of the year so far, Tu dors Nicole, on Blu-ray October 27th
Tu dors Nicole is one of my favorites, too — and they're releasing Güeros the same day! I saw both films within days of each other at PIFF back in February and I've been eager to watch them again. I'm glad Kino is treating them well, though I wish either of them had had better theatrical runs.

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domino harvey
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Re: Tu dors Nicole (Stephane Lafleur, 2015)

#6 Post by domino harvey » Wed Aug 16, 2017 6:31 pm

This is streaming on Netflix, FYI, and I strongly encourage anyone who hasn't seen it yet to give it a watch, especially now since it replicates the feeling of summer so well

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bottled spider
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Re: Tu dors Nicole (Stephane Lafleur, 2015)

#7 Post by bottled spider » Thu Aug 17, 2017 9:21 pm

This little number was one of the high points of the Youth project. Agree that it's the perfect embodiment of the season. And very funny.

(Added in: just saw En terrains connus / Familiar Grounds last night. A little slow paced and dour for my taste, but aal the same I enjoyed Lafleur's quiet wit, the cinematography, and the interesting soundtrack. It occurs to me that apart from immersion into a season, there's another theme these two films have in common: baby sitting.)

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domino harvey
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Re: Tu dors Nicole (Stephane Lafleur, 2015)

#8 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 24, 2019 2:39 pm

Image

Hey, it’s summer again, so this is another reminder to check out this perfect summer movie

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ng4996
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Re: Tu dors Nicole (Stephane Lafleur, 2015)

#9 Post by ng4996 » Fri May 24, 2019 2:43 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Fri May 24, 2019 2:39 pm
Hey, it’s summer again, so this is another reminder to check out this perfect summer movie
Is this still on Netflix? I don't have access right now to check.

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domino harvey
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Re: Tu dors Nicole (Stephane Lafleur, 2015)

#10 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 24, 2019 2:59 pm

I don't think it is, sadly. Kino did put it out on Blu-ray and there are two planned Kino sales this summer, one next month and then a label-wide one in July, so it should be available cheaply at some point this season though. It's apparently streaming for free on VUDU, but I don't know much about that service, and available to rent on iTunes etc for a few bucks

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dda1996a
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Re: Tu dors Nicole (Stephane Lafleur, 2015)

#11 Post by dda1996a » Fri May 24, 2019 2:59 pm

It's available on Kanopy as well

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ng4996
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Re: Tu dors Nicole (Stephane Lafleur, 2015)

#12 Post by ng4996 » Tue Jun 18, 2019 8:09 pm

I'd like to thank this thread, and Domino especially for bringing this film to my attention. I bought this in the Kino sale and it is indeed quite incredible. I couldn't help but think of American Honey while I was watching this, and I feel like they are almost two sides of the same coin. Whereas American Honey is a sprawling epic of youth on the fringes, Tu Dors Nicole is a quiet poem for those trapped in the middle. I feel like these both have their finger on the zeitgesit of what being young right now feels like in a way no other films come close to. I'm right now only a year older than Nicole is in the film, and I feel that as I grow older and am feeling Nostalgic, these are the films I'll be returning to.

Sidenote: This has to have one of the best closing shots of the decade, right? Incredible catharsis after a whole summer of stasis.

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knives
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Re: Tu dors Nicole (Stephane Lafleur, 2015)

#13 Post by knives » Thu Aug 06, 2020 3:07 pm

No wonder Domino loves this movie: it's good. Really perfect for the present moment as well. The image of her deflating in the bed sums up my emotional state perfectly.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Tu dors Nicole (Stephane Lafleur, 2015)

#14 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Aug 06, 2020 3:20 pm

It’s one of the best movies about apathy ever, because it fits so much life into its milieu that we validate both the stagnant emotional state and the eccentricities that we can find around us to offer reprieve from it without pretending that they solve our problems. Some of my favorite magical realism in cinema is Martin’s presence, and the ending is (literally) explosive in mirroring that bed deflation to the other extreme.

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knives
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Re: Tu dors Nicole (Stephane Lafleur, 2015)

#15 Post by knives » Thu Aug 06, 2020 3:22 pm

Martin is definitely when I got on the film's wavelength. It gave me a hearty chuckle alongside a small aww. Shows how sweet the movie is at being just tired.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Tu dors Nicole (Stephane Lafleur, 2015)

#16 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Aug 06, 2020 3:33 pm

The turning point for me was when we got the slow pan long take as her brother’s band was jamming out. This was partly because I thought the music was amazing but it also struck a precise midpoint between awe at the exciting possibilities that can occupy the space of a banal existence and an acknowledgment of the temperament of such an existence. I felt totally aligned with her state in that moment, lazing around glacially taking in information without the energy to match the band’s energy. It reminded me of a good chunk of my college experience, for better or worse.

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knives
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Re: Tu dors Nicole (Stephane Lafleur, 2015)

#17 Post by knives » Thu Aug 06, 2020 3:42 pm

Now that you mention yeah. I watched the movie very selfishly using it for a kind of emotional energy so I just took in the everyday need to just relax, something I'm specifically doing today as I've spent all week signing paperwork and getting prepared to move. If the Heller movie from this morning was a sort of catharsis for self acceptance this was just a long sign before the therapeutic roar.

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