What the Day Owes the Night

a love story in Algeria. nothing different by many other French movies about this painful theme. but the charm, the poetry, nostalgic sparkles, nice cast, the story, the measure of all are virtues who makes this film more than part of a series. because it is a film about holiday, innocence and limits of emotions. sweet, precise, a little cruel. example of realistic romance. and the presence of fragile, delicate, victim of difficult choices of Jonas in interesting performance of Fuad Ait Aattou gives, the sketch of Vincent Perez character, few drops of useful poetry to entire film. a film like an old pain in the skin of memories. not memorable. but nice. and this is the most important thing.

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.

In a nutshell it's a romance in the context of the algerian liberation war, it's beautiful and sad in the same time

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.

Even the main character is lil bit stupid, it is beautiful story of love and life. A must watch.