Minuit, le soir (2005–2007)
9/10
Indeed a comedy
16 July 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Someone sold me the box set of all three seasons for 15$. I did not know just what a bargain I had made until I watched this wonderful TV series.

As the first episode began my wife and I did not know quite what to expect. A few scenes into it the main character, Marc, played by series creator Claude Legault chases a man out of a downtown nightclub and through the streets, then across the Jacques Cartier bridge, then down the highway, then down a country road before finally catching him and beating him to a pulp. It was both an impossible montage and a bizarre thing to stick into the middle of the episode. Then we got it. This was not meant to be taken literally or seriously. The closest thing like it I have seen recently was the American series Scrubs. Both series takes us into the inner world of the characters, where reality really has no place. The care and delicacy with which the series is shot is amazing.

My favourite scene comes around episode 10 or 11. It lasts maybe 45 seconds. The main character is at a party and he is carrying a punch bowl out of the kitchen when his woman boss, with whom he is infatuated, stops him and starts pouring a bottle of vodka into the bowl. Time seems to stop. He leans forward and gets a whiff of her perfume. Time slows down. He lets go of the punch bowl and it just floats there. The camera does a 360 around them and we get a series of dissolves as he reaches out and just almost touches, almost caresses her hair, then her face and shoulders and waist and breasts. The intimacy is excruciating. He moves around behind her and their bodies are almost making full contact. The camera is moving in closer with each dissolve. The most amazing thing about it is the actress's eyes. You see from shot to shot the growing awareness in her eyes of the attention he is paying her. She first seems flattered, then maybe disturbed by the invasion into her space. The scene ends with him leaping back into place to catch the punch bowl before it falls to the ground. It is a technically complex and flawlessly executed scene.

The series is full of such brilliant ideas. One of the best TV series I have ever watched.
5 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

Recently Viewed