In 2009, film director Claude Chabrol stated that the three worst movies ever made are: Fanny (1961), Day and Night (1997), and his own film, The Twist (1976).
When the film premiered at the 47th Berlin International Film Festival in 1997, hundreds of journalists walked out of the screening and those that stayed audibly ridiculed the film. Day and Night (1997) was considered the worst French film since 1945 by Cahiers du cinéma, and considered as a possible "worst film in history" by the French version of Slate. Variety claimed that the film was, "Laugh-out-loud awful without touching the cult realm of "so bad it's good". Françoise Giroud stated "It's a bad movie, there's no question", and L'Humanité called it an "Absolute debacle".
An original documentary, Anatomy of a Massacre, was released with the Day and Night (1997) DVD, and focused on the film's intense negative reception and failure.
In the very last scene of the movie, Sonia - Lauren Bacall - is in Alexandre's study. On the desk, one can see in evidence the book "Orson Welles - The Road to Xanadu" written by Simon Callow.