Juliette Binoche braved miserable Arctic conditions to star as Josephine Peary in Nobody Wants the Night, which documents the story of one determined woman trying to find her missing husband at the North Pole.
The absolute misery of living through the freezing conditions is apparent in a behind the scenes video recently released.
Peary is joined on the life or death adventure by veteran arctic explorer Bram Trevor, played by Gabriel Byrne, who tries to dissuade her from going to the icy lands by showing her his hands damaged beyond recognition from frost bite, along with words of warning about the the dangers of the North.
Tensions mount between Peary and Inuit Allaka, played by Rinko Kikuchi, when Peary tries to “civilize” the native-Greenlander instead of learning from the woman’s extensive knowledge on how to survive sub-zero temperatures.
FIRST trailer for @berlinale opener NOBODY WANTS THE NIGHT, with Juliette Binoche: http://t.co/w7noZsZvS0 pic.twitter.com/QywnrTW4Yd
— Indiewire (@indiewire) January 12, 2015
Kikuchi is best-known for her role in Alejandro Inarritu’s 2006 Golden Globe-winning ensemble piece Babel and in Pacific Rim by Guillermo del Toro.
Byrne, a familiar face to movie-goers, is best-known for his role in The Usual Suspects.
The 50-year-old French actress was most recently seen in Godzilla , but also received much acclaim and an Academy Award, for her turn in The English Patient . Her other films include The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Chocolat.
Nobody Wants the Night was chosen to open this year’s 65th annual Berlin International Film Festival, which runs February 5-15.
“I’m very pleased that Nobody Wants the Night will open the 2015 Berlinale,” said festival director Dieter Kosslick in a statement. “Isabel Coixet has created an impressive and perceptive portrait of two women in extreme circumstances.”