What the Day Owes the Night (2012) User Reviews

Beautiful Storytelling

[pj-bus · 9/10 · 22 April 2014]

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.

loved it

[julien_levrier2011 · 9/10 · 28 November 2014]

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.

A beautiful story

[Mr-Dahman · 8/10 · 12 May 2020]

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

from Algeria

[Vincentiu · 1 September 2013]

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.

Amazing, emotional, great acting

[meselflora · 10/10 · 27 May 2013]

This was such a great movie, i definitely recommend, It is set in colonial Algeria, and follows the story of a young Arab Jonas who is torn between being with the girl that he loves and honoring a promes he made to her mother. It has the independence war as a backdrop, and several historical events are portrayed such as the revolution and the liberation of Algeria. The injustice and cruelty of the colonial French is also showed without being too accentuated. The the ending is very emotional and had me crying for at least half an hour, and Foua'd is gorgeous of course! Overall a great movie about missing out on the love of your life.

Simply a masterpiece

[aimee_bao_o · 10/10 · 18 August 2020]

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.

A beautiful Love Story

[sriram7612 · 9/10 · 12 September 2020]

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.

A magical story about different types of love

[lauratita2003 · 9/10 · 20 August 2014]

It is nonetheless one of the greatest love stories ever written and well depicted by the movie. The movie is not solely about the love story but you can easily see that every action evolves somehow around love: the love for a torn country and the never consumed love for a woman. Younes/Jonas grows without ever being fully aware of his identity and this consumes him, just as his own indecisiveness when faced with the possibility of betraying his friends and crossing a promise does. And, as usually happens, when he realizes he has lost the love of his life he tries recuperate it without success. As he says, even though he after-wards married and even loved, he somehow felt at the margin of happiness, never quite able to grasp it.

just natural

[nadr21a21 · 6/10 · 17 July 2021]

Life is hard. You need a lot of things to be preferred But this is difficult.

Extraordinary romance movie. A Masterpiece.

[aldrichianata · 10/10 · 25 May 2019]

The story is good, the storyline is very interesting. The plot at the end was very unexpected when I found out that Jonas did not move on from Emilie.

Beautiful story with pain

[cnranasinghe · 10/10 · 27 September 2020]

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

Never let the love of your life go

[kounikdas · 9/10 · 2 September 2021]

Never let go the love of your love. Well explained ,mesmerising movie ,after watching,i gurantee u are not gonna able to get it out of your head for quite sometimes. It's just the way the movie is made.it has some poetry ,some feelings and some situations.

What a feeling

[sethiraul · 9/10 · 31 March 2022]

A really sad romance story between Jonas/Younes and Èmelie It shows that a little mistake and the lack of courage can ruin your life.

Also we could see how the algerians were miserable during the france war and how they were bad treated.

At the end of the movie you'll feel a weird feeling about regrets and how you should fight for your love<3.

Review of the movie: What day owes to night

[rauof-13095 · 9/10 · 24 February 2024]

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)

GOOD MOVIE

[nesrina-23630 · 8/10 · 20 August 2023]

Really good start! At the beginning, I bawled my eyes out. I loved every minute and thought it would be my favorite movie of all time. I just have a soft spot for a dad that is sad and tries his best to give his family the life they deserve. OMG, when I think about Younes's dad, I get emotional. Younes is a person who went through so many hardships that I can't hate him at all. He's cold, he may not be able to love properly, but I see where his emotional barriers come from.

I liked the unexpected turns of events and the way Algeria was portrayed in the filming. But one thing I didn't like is how much blame was laid on Younes for absolutely doing the right thing. He messed up, okay, but even the mother is to blame. What's more, she forced him to promise not to get near her daughter, and so he did it because it just couldn't be possible.

Another thing is they made their love seem so deep when they didn't even spend a day together. I couldn't believe that all the sacrifice, all this pain was for a love that didn't even show up. I don't get it. He did the right thing, and to end his life with regrets like that, he didn't deserve it. At least he deserved love and compassion. Poor baby.

Amazing movie

[pbdkqfrc · 10/10 · 2 January 2024]

Wow I don't how to explain how I felt after watching this move he left me with a lot of energy to do what I have to and love the much possible that I can with living the great live by enjoying every moment with family, friends, partners for never regret a moment in my life .

Also he gave me a chance to know more about the history of Algeria and the battle how the Algerian people turn the rules ana win the war but also I think they add the disrespect image of the revolutionary at first and a little of bad words but I kinda ok with this part cause they give the feeling of the real reality , So i rate this movie 9,8/10.