Day for Night

There is nothing that the movie community loves more than a movie about making movies and François Truffaut's Day for Night is one of the best. All of the drama, all of the frantic problems and solutions, all of the behind the scenes histrionics are on display as the players work together, as a impermanent family to create cinema. And while we, the viewers, are watching what seems to be a behind the scenes film about making a movie, the actual movie is happening. Characters are falling in love, cheating, having breakdown and tantrums, romance, trysts. There are deaths and real life problems, friendship, and self discovery--not happening in the film, but happening while making the film. It all just works so well the way we are brought into the film making world only to have the story be about those making the film. It is fantastic writing and direction. François Truffaut deserves his due. A few extra thoughts: As good as this film was, my favorite film about making a film remains Singin' in the Rain (1952) which holds a perminent place in my Letterboxd Top 4. I wonder if Truffant was inspired by this film which came out more than 20 years before Day for Night. This film won a BAFTA for Best Picture in 1973 and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture in 1974.