This is a great movie. From the very beginning it's clear that this isn't a typical comedy or a typical drama. However odd, it works. Each murder is committed under such strange circumstances that they create great comic moments. If you go to see this, stay 'till the end. It's all explained (however vaguely). Very, very funny.
8 Reviews
By far the best absurdistic film I have seen in a long time.
pmercken25 September 2004
This is by far the best absurdistic film I have seen in a long time. It reminds me of Godard's Pierrot le fou (1965), but it has a real be it absolutely insane coherent plot and it is not a road movie. Luis Buñuel springs also to mind. There is for instance a scene reminiscent of the horror of 'the last supper scene' in Viridiana and of the famous scene around the table in The secret charms of the bourgeoisie.
The combination of black comedy, crime, even horror, religion and superstition, politics and global economy gives the film so many layers of meaning that they are hard to grasp in one big scoop.
And I forget psychology (various kinds of insanity, the effects of blackmail, the workings of gossip) and the mythology of redeeming love and loyalty.
But above all, it is a funny film. Funny in its actions, including the sudden position reversal of mortal combatants, funny in its dialogs (one-liners, huge understatements), funny in the juxtaposition of horror and the most mundane everyday life. It is full of the unexpected, surprises galore, and full of subtle and not so subtle hints that keep the viewer alert. It also has a happy rhythm of wild action and serene stills.
Do not expect the wallowing in blood of Quentin Tarantino's Killing Bill. Ce jour-là is a much lighter film and it is not one-dimensional, thanks to the already mentioned surfeit of connotations.
May I add that it is also a moral tale with a happy ending? And it ridicules the Swiss: Alain Tanner with a vengeance.
The combination of black comedy, crime, even horror, religion and superstition, politics and global economy gives the film so many layers of meaning that they are hard to grasp in one big scoop.
And I forget psychology (various kinds of insanity, the effects of blackmail, the workings of gossip) and the mythology of redeeming love and loyalty.
But above all, it is a funny film. Funny in its actions, including the sudden position reversal of mortal combatants, funny in its dialogs (one-liners, huge understatements), funny in the juxtaposition of horror and the most mundane everyday life. It is full of the unexpected, surprises galore, and full of subtle and not so subtle hints that keep the viewer alert. It also has a happy rhythm of wild action and serene stills.
Do not expect the wallowing in blood of Quentin Tarantino's Killing Bill. Ce jour-là is a much lighter film and it is not one-dimensional, thanks to the already mentioned surfeit of connotations.
May I add that it is also a moral tale with a happy ending? And it ridicules the Swiss: Alain Tanner with a vengeance.
Wonderful 'who-done-it & why' Bunel-esque movie!
addadada200220 April 2004
This wonderful 'who-done-it'& why' Bunel-esque movie is a hit at the 2004 SAN FRANCISCO International Film Festival!
Everyone in the audience loved this sureal quirky mystery about greed with the beautiful Elsa Zylberstein playing the 'insane' Livia who is tracked down by an escaped 'mental patient' Pointpoirot played wonderfully by Bernard Giraudeau.
The director is a master of story telling combining surealism, comedy, suspense and heartfelt moments.
After the movie, the beautiful Ms. Zylberstein provided a wonderful commentary about the film making process, the director, and her role . Especially pertinent was the explanation of the symbolism of the 'dinner party' to actual events during the military dictatorship in Chile.
Incredible film, which hopefully will be distributed and later available on DVD! (I want it in my DVD collection!)
Everyone in the audience loved this sureal quirky mystery about greed with the beautiful Elsa Zylberstein playing the 'insane' Livia who is tracked down by an escaped 'mental patient' Pointpoirot played wonderfully by Bernard Giraudeau.
The director is a master of story telling combining surealism, comedy, suspense and heartfelt moments.
After the movie, the beautiful Ms. Zylberstein provided a wonderful commentary about the film making process, the director, and her role . Especially pertinent was the explanation of the symbolism of the 'dinner party' to actual events during the military dictatorship in Chile.
Incredible film, which hopefully will be distributed and later available on DVD! (I want it in my DVD collection!)
Murder with a wink
groggo11 April 2007
With Ce jour-la (That Day), writer-director Raoul Ruiz has spun a masterful absurdist comedy.
A clearly mad (but sweetly angelic) Livia (the perfectly cast Elsa Zylberstein) consults her 'runes' and determines that her 'heaven' -- the titular 'Day' -- is on its way. Sweet atonement, whatever that means. She meets Pointpoirot (Bernard Giraudeau), a murderous (but amiable) psychopath, when she tries to murder him with a hammer, a symbolic weapon that lingers in the film.
As mayhem surrounds them and the bodies pile up (they're regularly rearranged neatly), the Swiss policemen sip coffee, chat, and do nothing. Everything, they say, will work itself out. This lassitude by officialdom is, by itself, hilarious, refreshing and revealing.
This is not just a brilliant flight into what used to be called 'gallows humour'. Ruiz' tale could be an allegory on that 'banality of evil' we've heard so much about; it could be a metaphor for our indifference to killing everywhere; it could be an escape from the murderous madness plaguing the world. Read what you will into it; this is a work of art disguised as comedy. It's a deliciously way-off-centre film that can upset us too much if we really think about it.
I loved seeing the always-magnetic French film veteran Michel Piccoli as the patriarch. He's still explosive after all these years. I stopped watching Hollywood movies about a year ago, and Ce jour-la confirms why. Since La-la Land loves to swipe European movie ideas, we might see a remake, a light comedy perhaps, something with, say, Cameron Diaz and Jack Black set around, oh, a state fair?
A clearly mad (but sweetly angelic) Livia (the perfectly cast Elsa Zylberstein) consults her 'runes' and determines that her 'heaven' -- the titular 'Day' -- is on its way. Sweet atonement, whatever that means. She meets Pointpoirot (Bernard Giraudeau), a murderous (but amiable) psychopath, when she tries to murder him with a hammer, a symbolic weapon that lingers in the film.
As mayhem surrounds them and the bodies pile up (they're regularly rearranged neatly), the Swiss policemen sip coffee, chat, and do nothing. Everything, they say, will work itself out. This lassitude by officialdom is, by itself, hilarious, refreshing and revealing.
This is not just a brilliant flight into what used to be called 'gallows humour'. Ruiz' tale could be an allegory on that 'banality of evil' we've heard so much about; it could be a metaphor for our indifference to killing everywhere; it could be an escape from the murderous madness plaguing the world. Read what you will into it; this is a work of art disguised as comedy. It's a deliciously way-off-centre film that can upset us too much if we really think about it.
I loved seeing the always-magnetic French film veteran Michel Piccoli as the patriarch. He's still explosive after all these years. I stopped watching Hollywood movies about a year ago, and Ce jour-la confirms why. Since La-la Land loves to swipe European movie ideas, we might see a remake, a light comedy perhaps, something with, say, Cameron Diaz and Jack Black set around, oh, a state fair?
Extremely good-looking, otherwise dreadful black comedy
gridoon202420 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I've seen about 5 Raoul Ruiz films so far, they are always strange and surreal, but I've never seen one as inaccessible to the general audience as "That Day". This film could be described as a private joke between Ruiz and his admirers, except that it's not very funny. And there are few things in life more dismal than an unfunny black comedy. It is definitely possible for a second viewing of the movie to reveal hidden meanings behind the surface (this happens with other Ruiz pictures); however, being barely able to get through this once, I doubt I will try that any time soon. I give "That Day" * out of 4, only for its dazzling photography and the exquisite, unique-looking Elsa Zylberstein.
Heavy Lite
tedg16 September 2007
Warning: Spoilers
I like Ruiz, I really do, and I'm glad there seems to be a bottomless bag of his films and a challenge to find.
He's what I look for when I want that explicitly self-referential presentation style, plus some clever narrative tricks, but I don't want to have to wrestle angels to death. He's heavy in the way he works, and usually light in what he works toward. That allows me to see these as essays on storytelling instead of stories.
The story here, which you won't understand until the end, is a simple conspiracy. Its remarkably simple and straightforward.
But the way it is presented is remarkably puzzling, and ever so much more engaging than an ordinary narrative. It involves some crazy folks and "normal" folks that also seem logically impaired. There's the obvious, that this is seen as a demented mind would, all arrayed higgledy piggledy. And the result is also obvious, that only the demented are simple enough to be true, an irony since the presentation is extremely complex. It reminds me of Aaron Copeland's fantastic elaborations on "Tis a Gift to be Simple."
Before ten minutes are elapsed, we have a woman get up from a dinner table, walk over to the camera, look directly into it and then clean the lens. That lens goes astigmatic when one of our endearing nutcases loses it. Previously he sees a window as a mirror as we look at him through it. His mania includes giving proper names to inanimate objects: hers (there's a loopy woman) is poetry.
As with many narrative experiments, there are detectives. But instead of being our representatives, they decide to "do nothing." Its a very clever and unsettling trick. We want to kick them because we fear we won't know what is going on until they do. The chief detective says that he can't figure things out because he is too much in the present while his partner is in the future. Meanwhile, as they waste time in the pub, someone is completing a crossword puzzle with the proper names of the characters we meet.
There are other cool narrative games, all lighthearted. Our crazy couple dances with his cheek not against hers, but against a painting she holds. A puzzling force in the story is "salsox" which we find at the end is a rather complex, almost supernatural condiment that might be the cause of this enriched world.
Suppose you want to have a light evening and you don't want to damage yourself with some gross comic. Here's your movie.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
He's what I look for when I want that explicitly self-referential presentation style, plus some clever narrative tricks, but I don't want to have to wrestle angels to death. He's heavy in the way he works, and usually light in what he works toward. That allows me to see these as essays on storytelling instead of stories.
The story here, which you won't understand until the end, is a simple conspiracy. Its remarkably simple and straightforward.
But the way it is presented is remarkably puzzling, and ever so much more engaging than an ordinary narrative. It involves some crazy folks and "normal" folks that also seem logically impaired. There's the obvious, that this is seen as a demented mind would, all arrayed higgledy piggledy. And the result is also obvious, that only the demented are simple enough to be true, an irony since the presentation is extremely complex. It reminds me of Aaron Copeland's fantastic elaborations on "Tis a Gift to be Simple."
Before ten minutes are elapsed, we have a woman get up from a dinner table, walk over to the camera, look directly into it and then clean the lens. That lens goes astigmatic when one of our endearing nutcases loses it. Previously he sees a window as a mirror as we look at him through it. His mania includes giving proper names to inanimate objects: hers (there's a loopy woman) is poetry.
As with many narrative experiments, there are detectives. But instead of being our representatives, they decide to "do nothing." Its a very clever and unsettling trick. We want to kick them because we fear we won't know what is going on until they do. The chief detective says that he can't figure things out because he is too much in the present while his partner is in the future. Meanwhile, as they waste time in the pub, someone is completing a crossword puzzle with the proper names of the characters we meet.
There are other cool narrative games, all lighthearted. Our crazy couple dances with his cheek not against hers, but against a painting she holds. A puzzling force in the story is "salsox" which we find at the end is a rather complex, almost supernatural condiment that might be the cause of this enriched world.
Suppose you want to have a light evening and you don't want to damage yourself with some gross comic. Here's your movie.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
A few good murder gags
bradluen18 April 2004
In this comedy of homicidal manners, people keep trying to kill both the sprite-like madwoman Livia (Elsa Zylberstein, gorgeously weightless) and her would-be assassin, the tottering madman Pointpoirot (Bernard Giraudeau, appropriately blank), and naturally there's a huge inheritance and a government conspiracy involved. Ruiz's staging is flawless, and the killing scenes in particular are exemplary - he knows when it's funnier to follow the characters, and when it's funnier to sit the camera dead still. I don't know if it all means any more than "Battle Royale" - Zylberstein said that Ruiz came to the conclusion in mid-shoot that it was a metaphor for Pinochet's violence, which may or may not be consistent with what we see on screen. Still, at least it takes the trouble to set up jokes properly, and it's not till the last third that they start seeming repetitive. I'm more or less neutral on this one.
The worst movie I have seen in a long time...
coletje200311 November 2004
Well, I should not lie. I did not actually see the movie since I walked out after about 30 to 45 minutes. It was unbearable. I am quite shocked that other viewers have compared this filmmaker to Bunuel, a great director, no questions asked. Ce jour-là was absurd, which can be good, but it was also grotesque, gory and idiotic. The acting was quite painful : artificial and overstated. The jokes were not funny, the dialog was heavy and anything but subtle. The plot was the least offensive part of this movie but it was not good enough to make me want to stay until the end and suffer through a long 105 minutes (or so). Unless the second half miraculously redeems the first one, I would advise any potential viewers to save their money and rent a Bunuel instead.
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