(This review was originally published at
Good Vibrations Online Magazine.)
One Night Stand (2006) was the film that originally brought Paris-based French photographer and filmmaker
Emilie Jouvet (35) onto the international scene. Her first feature length film, Emilie presents it as "a DIY romantic queer porn" but, as
The End of Being points out, "don't expect amateur work." "Jouvet’s porn is of a conceptual nature" reflecting an "interest in the city lights, the trashy glamour, and fast-living of girls who not only command their space, but demand it." Indeed, what sets
One Night Stand apart, is its unique esthetic sensibility and its reflective approach to gender and sexuality. A conceptual underground art house film,
One Night Stand displays Emilie's edgy artistic style, using the night light and digital quality for effect as it explores queer sex. The handheld camera work and the confident editing combine to present a film that feels both unbrushed and visceral, and polished and poetic at the same time. The energy is strong throughout with an indie musical soundtrack delivering the scenes' palpable sexual energy.
The viewer is right away pulled into the charged space of
One Night Stand in the film's opening prelude. Accompanied by a catchy soundtrack that will get you on your feet, we follow a blond short-haired woman walking down the stairs of a night club. The black and white quality of the picture gradually warms into muted colors as the camera caresses the women partying and dancing, compelled by the rhythms played by a sylphlike DJ, her delicate long fingers spinning the record. The psychedelic soundtrack escalates as the tension builds—"sex bound, revelation," hisses a woman on the dance beat—women watching women, dancing, flirting, kissing, making out.
Cut to the opening credits followed by five one-night stands.
