A film about happiness, youth and love which teeters between artificiality and naturalism. `The style of its de-dramatised intrigues is first and foremost observing and investigative. Akerman’s camera dares to look.’ (Freddy Sartor in Film & Televisie) In Nuit et jour she looks at three young people who live together in a hot and summery Paris. At first only Jack and Julie live together. They surrender themselves to total love and live in isolation from the rest of the world. Jack is a taxi-driver. He only works at night so he can spend the days with Julie. One evening Jack introduces Julie to Joseph, who drives during the day in Jack’s taxi. For Joseph and Julie it is love at first sight. From then on, Joseph visits Julie at night when Jack is working, while Julie pursues her relationship with Jack during the day with unabated passion. Jack is the only one who knows nothing of the double game. Julie thinks she can keep the situation under control, but the course of events will prove her wrong. When the relationships start wearing thin, the three try to stay one step ahead of the inevitable loss by embarking on a major renovation of the apartment.Nuit et jour has been hailed by the critics as an answer to Truffaut’s famous Jules et Jim (1961). The film has also been compared to the work of Rohmer because it is supposedly also an example of `cinema di conversazione’ (Irene Bignardi in La Repubblica).
