''The Eighth Day'' (french: Le huitième jour) is a 1996 Franco-Belgian

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film that tells the story of the friendship that develops between two men who meet by chance. Harry (

Daniel Auteuil Daniel Auteuil (; born 24 January 1950) is a French actor and director who has appeared in a wide range of film genres, including period dramas, romantic comedies, and crime thrillers. In 1996 he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Fest ...

), a divorced businessman who feels alienated from his children, meets Georges (

Pascal Duquenne Pascal Duquenne (born 8 August 1970) is a Belgian actor. He shared the Best Actor Award in the 1996 Cannes Film Festival for his performance as Georges in the movie '' The Eighth Day'', with Daniel Auteuil, who played Harry. He lives in Brussels ...

), an institutionalised man with

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...

, 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 This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

69th Academy Awards The 69th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) took place on March 24, 1997, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the ceremo ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The film was written and directed by

Jaco Van Dormael Jaco Van Dormael (born 9 February 1957) is a Belgian film director, screenwriter and playwright. His films especially focus on a respectful and sympathetic portrayal of people with mental and physical disabilities. Van Dormael spent his childh ...

. Some scenes in the film appear as dream sequences, often employing

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...

. The music of

Luis Mariano Luis Mariano Eusebio González García (13 August 1914 – 14 July 1970), also known as Luis Mariano, was a popular tenor of Spanish origin who achieved celebrity in 1946 with "La belle de Cadix" ("The Beautiful Lady of Cadix") an operetta by ...

("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 Pierre Van Dormael (24 May 1952 – 3 September 2008) was a Belgian jazz guitarist and composer. In 1988, he played in the James Baldwin Project with David Linx and Deborah Brown (vocalists), Slide Hampton (trombone), Diederik Wissels (piano ...

, Jaco's brother.

Cast

as Harry *

as Georges *

Miou-Miou Sylvette Herry (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Miou-Miou (), is a French actress. A ten-time César Award nominee, she won the César Award for Best Actress for the 1979 film ''Memoirs of a French Whore''. Her other films inclu ...

as Julie *

Henri Garcin Henri Garcin (born Anton Albers; 11 April 1928 – 13 June 2022) was a Belgian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1956 to 2022. Selected filmography * ''Mademoiselle and Her Gang'' (1957) * ''Mata Hari, Agent H21'' (1964) * '' ...

as The director of the bank *

Isabelle Sadoyan Isabelle Sadoyan (12 May 1928 – 10 July 2017) was a French-Armenian actress. She was the wife of actor Jean Bouise. Her filmography includes films by Jeanne Moreau, Claude Chabrol, Claude Lelouch, Luc Besson, Jean-Luc Godard, Henri Verneuil, ...

as Georges' Mother *

Michele Maes Michele (), is an Italian male given name, akin to the English male name Michael. Michele (pronounced ), is also an English female given name that is derived from the French Michèle. It is a variant spelling of the more common (and identically ...

as Nathalie *

Fabienne Loriaux Fabienne is a feminine French and English given name. Notable people with the name include: * Fabienne André (born 1996), British athlete * Fabienne Dufour (born 1981), Belgian swimmer * Fabienne Feraez (born 1976), Beninese sprinter * Fabienne ...

as Fabienne *

Hélène Roussel Hélène Roussel, stage name of Yvonne Louise Gabrielle Roussel, (2 September 1932 – 5 December 2022) was a French actress. She was the sister of actress Michèle Morgan and the wife of actor . Roussel died on 5 December 2022, at the age of ...

as Julie's mother *

Alice van Dormael Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

as Alice *

Juliette Van Dormael Juliette Van Dormael (born 22 December 1990 in Brussels) is a Belgian cinematographer. Her mother is Laurette Vankeerberghen and father Jaco Van Dormael. She is known for the feature film "Mon ange" (2016). Earlier she worked with the short"Jay p ...

as Juliette * Didier De Neck as Fabienne's husband * Marie-Pierre Meinzel *

Sabrina Leurquin Sabrina may refer to: * Sabrina (given name), a feminine given name, including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name People * Sabrina (actress), stage name of Norma Ann Sykes (1936–2016), a British glamour model and actres ...

as Waitress in fast food restaurant * Laszlo Harmati as

Reception

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

Awards

This film was nominated for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

award, the top prize at the

1996 Cannes Film Festival The 49th Cannes Film Festival was held from 9 to 20 May 1996. The Palme d'Or went to '' Secrets & Lies'' by Mike Leigh. The festival opened with ''Ridicule'', directed by Patrice Leconte and closed with '' Flirting with Disaster'', directed by ...

. It did win the

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...

award at the festival, which was given to both

and

. The film was also nominated for a

César Award Cesar, César or Cèsar may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''César'' (film), a 1936 film directed by Marcel Pagnol * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt * César Award, a French film award Places * Cesar, Portugal * C ...

and a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

award.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eighth Day 1996 films 1996 comedy-drama films Down syndrome in film 1990s French-language films Films about friendship Films directed by Jaco Van Dormael Films shot in Brussels Gramercy Pictures films Pan-Européenne films PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films Belgian comedy-drama films French-language Belgian films

Cast

Reception

Awards

See also

References

External links