Intérieur jour by Marc Dugain was written while he was working on the filming of L'Échange des princesses, after the book by Chantal Thomas.

Why would anyone read Intérieur jour if you have neither seen the film nor read the book the film was based on. This seems to be a logical question, and the answer may seem paradoxical. Because while the book was written for a seemingly very specific event, the book embraces all.

Anyone who reads Intérieur jour by Marc Dugain will find something of interest. All major events of the past two centuries are mentioned including references to all cultural icons and memes related to those events. By looking inward, Dugain magnifies detail to encompass the culture of our times and the world.

However, Dugain has one focal point, which ties Intérieur jour to his cinematic work, which is his focus on childhood, and impressive events that happened during childhood.

Marc Dugain has had a very unusual career spanning a range of experience broader than most people. His work on the filming of L'Échange des princesses has acted as a prisma to separate that broad spectrum into an essay that looks at human experience in many facets.

I had expected little of this book, but found it brimming with ideas. ( )