''Day and Night'' (french: Le Jour et la Nuit) is a 1997 French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by public intellectual

Bernard-Henri Lévy Bernard-Henri Lévy (; ; born 5 November 1948) is a French public intellectual. Often referred to in France simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the "Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976. His opinions, political activ ...

and starring

Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...

Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary ...

Arielle Dombasle Arielle Dombasle (born April 27, 1953)Dombasle's year of birth has been a subject of much debate, and various sources have given dates ranging from 1953 to 1958. is an American-born French singer, actress, director and model. Her breakthrough ro ...

and

Francisco Rabal Francisco Rabal Valera (8 March 1926 – 29 August 2001), better known as Paco Rabal, was a Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter born in Águilas, a town in the south-western part of the province of Murcia, Spain. Throughout his career, Raba ...

. The film follows a French author who fled to Mexico for a quiet life and an actress who is willing to seduce him to get a part in a film adapted from one of his books.

Plot

Alexandre (Alain Delon) is an ageing writer who lives as a monarch in the depths of Mexico. Surrounded by his court (strange and mysterious characters), he staves off boredom with alcohol, boxing, women and ballooning. Desiring to acquire the adaptation rights of Alexandre's first novel, film producer Filippi (Karl Zéro) and his actress Laure (Arielle Dombasle) soon arrive in the life of the celebrated author. Alexandre and Laure gradually become closer and set off extreme passions in the heart of the community.

Cast

as Alexandre *

as Sonia *

as Laure *

Karl Zéro Karl Zéro is the stage name of Marc Tellenne (born August 6, 1961 in Aix-les-Bains, Savoie), is a French writer, actor and filmmaker. Zéro is also a political talk show host/personality ('' Le Vrai Journal'') who has recorded albums of pop st ...

as Filippi *

as Cristobal * Marianne Denicourt as Ariane

Reception

The film opened in France on 74 screens and grossed $236,256 in its opening week, ranking 14th at the box office. When the film premiered at the

47th Berlin International Film Festival The 47th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 February 1997. The Golden Bear was awarded to Canadian-American film '' The People vs. Larry Flynt'' directed by Miloš Forman. The retrospective dedicated to Austrian fi ...

in 1997, hundreds of journalists walked out of the screening and those that stayed audibly ridiculed the film. ''Day and Night'' was considered the worst French film since 1945 by ''

Cahiers du cinéma ''Cahiers du Cinéma'' (, ) is a French film magazine co-founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca.Itzkoff, Dave (9 February 2009''Cahiers Du Cinéma Will Continue to Publish''The New York TimesMacnab ...

'', and considered as a possible "worst film in history" by the French version of ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

''. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' claimed that the film was, "Laugh-out-loud awful without touching the cult realm of 'so bad it's good," Françoise Giroud stated "It's a bad movie, there's no question", and ''

L'Humanité ''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist." History and profile Pre-World Wa ...

'' called it an "Absolute debacle". An original documentary, ''Anatomy of a Massacre'', was released with the ''Day and Night'' DVD, and focused on the film's intense negative reception and failure.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0119418, Day and Night 1997 films 1997 drama films 1990s French-language films French drama films Films about writers Films set in Mexico Films shot in Mexico Films scored by Maurice Jarre 1990s French films