Review of Day for Night (1973) by Jeff B — 01 Sep 2007

It's been a while since I saw this, but I saw it again a few days ago, and it's still as amazing as I remember it. This is one of the best movies ever, it's one every film lover and aspiring filmmaker should see.

Though I've only seen a few of his film, I think Truffaut is a brilliant director and it looks like he has fun on all the movies he makes. With Day for Night, it's really obvious that he was someone that not only loved making movies but he loved movies in general. Watching it, I was just smiling the whole time, it's got so many great jokes throughout about the film industry and how to make a movie.

I love how the movie opens on a film set with that long take with about 100 extras and everyone must hit their marks at the correct time. You have to think, how many takes did they go through for that single take? Then the rest of the movie has long takes like that, and you have to think that, was it just like the opening of the film? Did they have to go through all that ordeal? And then there's the scene with the cat going up to the milk, it took them so many tries to get the cat to do that. But how many takes did they go through to get those shots? That's why this film is so great, it really makes you think about how much goes in to making films.

And having worked on some short films and a couple indie films, I can relate to the props guys and all the minor characters. There's that hilarious last scene when the actors and producer and director won't talk to the press about what went on, but the props guy rushes over to them and tells them with a lot of excitement that the whole movie was great and that everything went perfectly.

And the ensemble is so great, all the characters are entertaining and impossible not to love.

This film is a real treasure. I love that everyone in the movie expresses how much they are dedicated to films. Leaud, even though going through a troubled relationship, still always wants to go to the movies when he's got free time. And there's the AD (I think that's what she was), saying "I could leave a guy for a movie but I'd never leave a movie for a guy." And there's the wife that sits around on the set making sure her husband doesn't fool around, she yells at everyone saying that the whole cast and crew is crazy and the filmmaking lifestyle is horrible - and everyone looks at her like she's crazy.

This film is a real treasure and it shows why I love movies.