julien_levrier2011
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.
Laura AT
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.
Patrick James
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.
meselflora
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.
AD
