What the Day Owes the Night

This is a beautiful piece of storytelling. It traverses so much ground. The terrible division in French colonial Algeria is depicted very believably. I am sure that anyone who has lived in a divided society will feel the same way. I myself grew up in Northern Ireland and felt a great connection with this story. In the film there is also the story of four young males growing up and encountering divisions between them caused by conflicting passion and the division in society.

Even though the film covers a lot of ground, it always feels entirely integrated. The story is told with such skill. The acting throughout is excellent and the pictures are often beautiful.

Alexandre Arcady never underestimates the intelligence of the audience. He lets you work out what is going on without being over-told. A significant event at the end of this film is signaled that it will come. When it does we know what has happened, we are told in such a gentle and clever way. It is really extremely impressive.

At the centre of the film is a personal story which is achingly sad.

I watched this movie and could draw parallels with South Indian movies where caste becomes an issue between lovers. This one is an absolute gem. The love that Emile emits on her eyes... it's hair raising... every time when she pleads with her eyes to Jonas... I was spell bound. How could she bring that love in her eyes and connect with the audience? It's a great cast, screenplay, backdrop shown with restraint, overall an amazing film.

I started watching this with the thought that it'd be a basic romance with a happy ending. I didn't expect such great acting, storytelling, music, pictures. Everything combines very well in the movie and it makes you remember about it even after years. It doesn't completely follow the idea of the book, that the love between Jonas and Emilie is actually a political metaphor for the history of France and Algeria, but for a romance, it is perfect. I loved how the director took time to picture the cruelty of the war and the unfair world, side by side with the sad love story between the main characters. A story that is, to some extent, more about honour, respect and dignity than love. Even though it teaches you that true love stays with you forever, never dies and never is forgotten, no matter if it has a happy ending or not.

I gave it a 9. I read the book quite a while ago, before it became a hit. As is rarely the case, the film is very faithful to the original plot and offers incredible pictures of colonial Algeria. It sets at the time of independence of the country. In short to me, a mix of very powerful stories about love, passion and hatred, about things that have to be and things that are not meant to be. A very clever parallel between the story in the background and the stories in the foreground. And, a breathtaking depiction of what must have been the lives of people living in Algeria at this time and how debts of the past can affect people's lives, forever. What the day owes the night. A must-watch as well as a must-read.

When I wanted to go in to watch the film, I did not expect a lot from it, but the film dazzled me and made me excited about the novel by the Algerian writer Yasmine Khadra. The method of filming it was smart in order to convey feelings to the viewers, and the thing that pleased me the most was pictures of us in the film with an aspect that we had not seen in any film or story before. It is the coexistence of the Algerians with the French at the time of colonialism, with the addition of a touch of other races and how their different culture affected them, and this was what affected the characters of the film, which was a true story of events. We saw them making decisions with the aim of balancing, but to no avail. The choice of actors was good in some scenes. I saw an exaggeration, which affected the viewer's lack of influence in terms of drama, but the atmosphere, story, and method of telling the story were enjoyable, which made me complete it in one sitting in which I did not feel bored throughout the duration of the film, which is considered long in proportion to a film. The end of the film was complete, expected at the same time, and realistic in proportion. The two peoples, with the addition of the real Younis touch at the end. Thank you for the unexpected experience (my rating is 8.6/10)