Vincent is really a well-respected cop, as well as a devoted husband and father. But below the area of his idyllic lifestyle, Vincent is involved with a very dangerous group connected with gangsters and drug retailers. When Vincent and their partner are caught stealing an enormous quantity of cocaine coming from a powerful drug lord, the darker side associated with Vincent's life threatens in order to destroy his family and also career. In a race contrary to the clock, Vincent must return the drugs in order to save his son's life.
Jardin wastes no time easing in to the action, as the movie clears on police partners Vincent (Sisley) in addition to Manuel (Laurent Stocker) intercepting any cocaine hand-off in what becomes an auto chase and bullet-laden challenge. We learn that the cops are preparing to keep the stash pertaining to themselves, but when mob boss/nightclub proprietor Marciano (Serge Riaboukine) catches wind on the double-cross, he kidnaps Vincent's son Thomas (Samy Seghir). The ensuing race against time for it to rescue his child, which ends up involving other cops from the force (among all of them the lovely Lizzie Brocher? as Vignali) happens almost entirely within the bowels in the nightclub.
A single-location film is really a feat unto itself, but Jardin makes a pair of incredibly smart decisions: First, he treats the location being a character, introducing us to their various components – rear rooms, kitchens, walk-in freezers, overhead crawl spaces, bathrooms, pool halls, dance floors – and builds on the importance, eventually involving them from the action. Second, he utilizes a shrill rating, the duality of blown-out and also shadowed lighting, handheld camera techniques and intensely cramped set pieces for you to mount the building tension that has a sense of disquieting claustrophobia. The director was therefore intent on authenticity when it found a feeling of suffocation that they refused to open in place walls or build special set pieces for your camera to fit directly into; every location is authentic, and every shot is set up within it. No Hollywood tricks are applied here, and it makes every one of the difference.
In addition to Jardin's deft perform behind the camera, Sisley's devotion to his role – both emotional and physical improvement of his character – will be palpable. Whether he's breaking down inside a stairwell, beating a man inside a back room or driving during a high-speed follow, Sisley is giving 110 %. Plus, he does his personal choreography and stunts. Watch your backs, Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Denzel Washington, Daniel Craig and Company. – this guy could be the truth, and he's nipping your heels.
Sleepless Night is some of those thoroughly satisfying, endlessly entertaining and fully adrenaline-inducing films that grips on and not lets go. There are echoes connected with Hitchcock films, The Raid, Die Hard and Get within its frames (although Jardin would inform you he was primarily affected by South Korean cinema including Oldboy), but it does alone justice by proving to become a fully developed standalone part of cinema. Don't wait for the remake to get this one on the radar: Jardin's version of Sleepless Night could be the original, and an instant traditional.
Watch Sleepless Night (2012)
