Day for Night [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: François Truffaut François Truffaut

Overview

A character in Francois Truffaut's love poem to the filmmaking process La Nuit Americaine declares, "I'd drop a guy for a film. I'd never drop a film for a guy." It is this total abandon to the filmmaking process and the small crises that arise amidst the family formed by a movie shoot that is celebrated in Truffaut's gentle comedy. Truffaut plays Ferrand, a journeyman director, shooting a movie called "Meet Pamela." As Ferrand shoots the movie in the La Victorine studios in the south of France, he must deal with a number of problems that crop up with both his cast and crew. In Ferrand's cast there is Alphonse (Jean-Pierre Leaud), the shallow, sex-happy star; Severine (Valentina Cortese), the alcoholic movie-star past her prime; Julie (Jacqueline Bisset), the attractive but unstable female lead; Stacey (Alexandra Stewart), a bit player with a troublesome pregnancy; and Alexandre (Jean-Pierre Aumont), the aging lead actor, coming to grips with his homosexuality. Along with the actors, Ferrand must also field problems from his crew -- consisting of Bernard (Bernard Menez), an incompetent grip; Odile (Nike Arrighi), a ditzy makeup girl; Lilianna (Dani), the script girl who got her job because she slept with Alphonse; and Joelle (Nathalie Baye), the super efficient production assistant. Through all this chaos, Ferrand, like a benevolent patriarch, must channel all these diverse talents into one goal -- the shooting of "Meet Pamela."

Product Details

Release Date:	08/18/2015
UPC:	0715515154215
Original Release:	1973
Rating:	PG
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:56:00
Sales rank:	870

Special Features

New visual essay by filmmaker :: kogonada New interviews with Glenn and assistant editor Martine Barraqué New interview with film scholar Dudley Andrew Documentary on the film from 2003, featuring film scholar Annette Insdorf Archival interviews with director François Truffaut, editor Yann Dedet, and actors Jean-Pierre Aumont, Nathalie Baye, Jacqueline Bisset, Dani, and Bernard Menez Archival television footage about the film, including footage of Truffaut on the set Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jacqueline Bisset	Julie
Jean-Pierre Aumont	Alexandre
Valentina Cortese	Severine
Jean-Pierre Leaud	Alphonse
Alexandra Stewart	Stacey
Jean Champion	Bertrand
Nathalie Baye	Joelle
Gaston Joly	Lajoie
Dani	Lilianna
Bernard Menez	Bernard, the Prop Man
Jean-Francois Stevenin	1st Assistant Director
Nike Arrighi	Odile, the Makeup Girl
Zenaide Rossi	Mme. Lajoie
David Markham	Dr. Nelson, Julie's Husband
Maurice Seveno	Television Reporter
Christophe Vesque	Boy with Cane in Dream Sequences
Graham Greene	English Insurance Broker
Marcel Berbert	French Insurance Broker
François Truffaut	Director Ferrand
Henry Graham	Insurer
Jean Panisse	Arthur
Marc Boyle	Actor
Walter Bal	Walter (Cinematographer)
Pierre Zucca	Actor
Georges Delerue	Composer

Technical Credits

François Truffaut

Jean-Louis Richard

Suzanne Schiffman

Marcel Berbert	Producer
François Truffaut	Director,Screenwriter
Jean-Louis Richard	Screenwriter
Suzanne Schiffman	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

A delightful love letter to the cinema by the great French filmmaker François Truffaut, La nuit américaine (Day for Night) is one of the best movies about making movies. Focusing on the backstage intrigues of an eccentric group of actors and technicians, Truffaut, a master of shifting tone, effortlessly guides the film from comedy to pathos and back again. It doesn't matter that the characters are making a film that is, from all available evidence, an utter stinker; La nuit américaine suggests that filmmaking, even hack filmmaking, is an inherently noble pursuit. Though he's careful not to downplay the more chaotic and even dangerous aspects of life in the film business, Truffaut clearly adores the heightened reality on display, both in front of the camera and behind it. Making a film is the only way that these characters (and by extension Truffaut) can be happy. Adding significantly to the film's pleasures are Georges Delerue's wistful score and the brilliant ensemble acting, most notably New Wave icon Jean-Pierre Léaud as the neurotic young star Alphonse; Valentina Cortese as the brittle, alcoholic Sévérine; and Truffaut himself, playing the beleaguered director. A huge international success in its original run, the film won the Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar of 1973 and landed nominations for Truffaut, Cortese, and the screenplay -- all rare accomplishments for a foreign-language film -- as well as New York Film Critics Circle and British Academy awards as the best film of the year.

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