Our take
The choice between practicality and passion is the subject of many a drama, but A Thousand Times Good Night depicts that passion stemming from a different place. Rather than pure expression, or creativity, director Erik Poppe depicts the passion of his former profession of photojournalism stemming from social importance– not just status, but in possibly changing the course of history. The semi-autobiographical story clearly has an understanding of the craft, and with her moving performance, Juliette Binoche proves to be an effective proxy, as her character takes risks her family find it hard to tolerate, and as continually choosing those risks, also entails influencing your family to make that same sacrifice. Some viewers might not agree with these choices, but nevertheless A Thousand Times Good Night is a palpable character study of someone whose career is personally interlinked with their advocacy, their identity, and their philosophy of what the world should prioritize.
The story
On assignment while photographing a female suicide bomber in Kabul, Rebecca – one of the world’s top war photojournalists - gets badly hurt. Back home, another bomb drops as her husband and daughters give her an ultimatum: her work or her family.
Elsewhere
"If I'm complaining about this movie a lot for one I'm deeming better than fair, it's because I was frustrated by how its first-rate ingredients, Binoche chief among them, somehow failed to create a spectacular end result."
— Glenn Kenny
"Deftly sidestepping both melodrama and family-values messaging, Poppe imbues the film with enormous emotional resonance, brilliantly grounded by his leading lady."
— Ronnie Scheib
As a prominent photojournalist, Rebecca is driven to photograph some of the world’s most dangerous war-zones, which places her at odds with her family back home in Ireland.
Juliette Binoche.
Who better to depict the concerns of a photojournalist than a photojournalist?
The details
Streaming arrival
Who picked it
Isabella Endrinal is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. She's now free from the corporate night shift. Previous articles have been published in outlets such as NANG Magazine. She's currently catching up on some classic films… if she isn't coping with the fact that the Haikyu anime will end soon.
