''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
David Linx (born 22 March 1965) is a Belgian jazz
Jazz is a music ...
, Jaco's brother.
Cast
![Pascal Duquenne Daniel Auteuil Cannes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Pascal_Duquenne_Daniel_Auteuil_Cannes.jpg)
*
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 ...
as Harry
*
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 ...
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 incl ...
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 identicall ...
as Nathalie
*
Fabienne Loriaux
Fabienne is a feminine French and English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, o ...
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
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 ...
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. It did win the Best Actor award at the festival, which was given to both 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 ...
and 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 ...
.
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.
See also
*
*
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