Day For Night

D: Francois Truffaut

Warner Bros / Les Films du Carrosse / PECF / PIC (Marcel Berbert)

France/Italy 🇫🇷🇮🇹 1973

116 mins 

Drama/Comedy

W: Francois Truffaut, Jean-Louis Richard & Suzanne Schiffman

DP: Pierre-William Glenn

Ed: Yann Dedet & Martine Barraque

Mus: Georges Delerue

Jacqueline Bisset (Julie Baker), Valentina Cortese (Severine), Daniele Graule (Liliane), Alexandra Stewart (Stacey), Jean-Pierre Aumont (Alexandre), Jean Champion (Bertrand), Jean-Pierre Leaud (Alphonse), Francois Traffaut (Ferrand)

Day For Night is one of the great films about filmmaking, although this is very much on the periphery on the plot.

Director Francois Traffaut plays a director making a cliched melodrama titled “Je Vous Presente Pamela”, starring Jacqueline Bisset’s socialite A-lister Julie Baker in the lead.

During the shooting, crisis upon crisis emerges with the cast and crew, and a multitude of personal and professional problems constantly halt the film’s production.

You may not have to be a film buff to enjoy this one, but it would probably be more appreciated if you are. Nevertheless, it’s a wonderful piece of French cinema with a fantastic ensemble and a brilliantly penned screenplay, wonderfully handled by Truffaut, who manages to deliver a subtly astute meta classic.

8/10