The Eighth Day (1996 film) explained

Le huitième jour
Director:Jaco Van Dormael
Producer:Philippe Godeau
Dominique Josset
Eric Rommeluere
Music:Pierre Van Dormael
Cinematography:Walther van den Ende
Editing:Susana Rossberg
Studio:PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
Working Title Films
Pan-Européenne
Distributor:PolyGram Filmed Entertainment[1]
Runtime:118 minutes
Country:Belgium
France
Language:French
Gross:$37.1 million[2]

The Eighth Day (French: '''Le huitième jour''') is a 1996 Franco-Belgian comedy-drama film that tells the story of the friendship that develops between two men who meet by chance. Harry (Daniel Auteuil), a divorced businessman who feels alienated from his children, meets Georges (Pascal Duquenne), an institutionalised man with Down syndrome, after Georges has escaped from his mental institution and is nearly run over by Harry. The film was selected as the Belgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 69th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[3] [4]

The film was written and directed by Jaco Van Dormael. Some scenes in the film appear as dream sequences, often employing magical realism. The music of Luis Mariano ("Mexico," and "Maman, Tu Es La Plus Belle Du Monde") is used in these scenes, with actor Laszlo Harmati playing Mariano, who died in 1970. The original music score is from Pierre Van Dormael, Jaco's brother.

Cast

Reception

The film grossed $24.3 million in France and $37.1 million worldwide.[2]

Awards

This film was nominated for the Palme d'Or award, the top prize at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. It did win the Best Actor award at the festival, which was given to both Pascal Duquenne and Daniel Auteuil.[5]

The film was also nominated for a César Award and a Golden Globe award.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Eighth Day (1996). UniFrance. 5 August 2021.
  2. Cannes Retrospective. Screen International. 2 May 1997. 24.
  3. Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  4. Web site: [//www.oscars.org/pressreleases/96.11.13.html 39 Countries Hoping for Oscar Nominations ]. . 13 November 1996 . 5 October 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/19990209110950/http://www.oscars.org/pressreleases/96.11.13.html . 9 February 1999 . dead . dmy-all .
  5. Web site: Festival de Cannes: Le huitième jour . 2009-09-18. festival-cannes.com.