6/10
Good cast, good story - too loose in its telling
19 June 2022
It's not bad. In all regards the screenplay is much stronger than not, with lots of great ideas. The cast is solid, the filming locations are gorgeous, and it's well made from a technical standpoint. Only, it hardly seems appropriate to call 'Black day blue night' a crime thriller. Except at the climax, the course of events progresses with a sedate ease that never really gets the blood flowing. There's nothing inherently wrong with this; it's an approach that has worked well elsewhere, intended to let the narrative speak for itself without major embellishments. However, for whatever strength there is in the plot, the story simply isn't so inherently captivating as to provide that engagement and invigoration all by itself. Why, where flashbacks figure into the plot development, they are inserted with such detachment, and lack of utmost clarity, that I'm not sure I even caught the absolute entirety of what the plot is.

Unfortunately, within a few sentences, the problems of this feature are laid bare. If there is a definitive story to be conveyed through the medium, then even if the narrative is pointedly fractured and disjointed or told in a novel way, it must attain a distinct level of clarity - 'Black day blue night' does not. Clarity isn't recalled for all films, though, because some titles are more about fundamental presentation and art than storytelling. With that said - no matter what the genre, a picture needs to emphatically pique the interest of its viewers, whether that mean thrills, a visceral reaction, emotional investment, or provoking deep thought. Again, 'Black day blue night' does not. It doesn't perfectly communicate its story, and it is almost entirely unable to meaningfully capture one's imagination. If a film can do neither of these things, what good is it?

I don't dislike this, and for all that's done well, it's still suitably satisfying to warrant a very soft, "lazy day" recommendation. I just wish more mindfulness were applied to the storytelling, and passion to the film-making, because had they been, I'd be speaking from a place of much greater enthusiasm. As it is, 'Black day blue night' is an okay watch if you come across it, and it's most recommended for fans of the cast. Don't rush to go out of your way for it, though, because it sadly doesn't go out of its way to entertain.
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