Movies about movies being made are, in general, a pretty phony lot. Technical reality is usually ignored, and the process of making a take is often misrepresented as shamelessly as in the old MGM musical On an Island with You. The director in that film says 'Action', and we see an entire sequence with cuts and effects and music unfold before our eyes. Then he says 'Cut', and everyone goes home.

Francois Truffaut's excels in presenting amusing or endearing sets of characters. His freewheeling style doesn't worry about American notions of production value, so it's interesting to see him tackle a project that has to work on so many technical levels. I don't think we ever see a camera being loaded, but we certainly get an inside look at most other details. In one scene, director Ferrand and his producer even make a quick pass over the production schedule.

Anyone who has seen a moderate-sized American crew working knows that over here, a film company is like an occupying army, with seemingly hundreds of people milling about, few of whom seem to be directly involved with anything creative. Day for Night is probably a pleasant viewing experience for American producers, with its small crew of close friends, actors and technicians who actually care about the show being made, as opposed to their daily rate.

In show-biz terms, Ferrand's filming unit is like a carnival, with the crewpeople coming together for a brief time, but aware of a longer tradition and relationships. Two of the stars in the film were names in Hollywood at one time (played by stars who also were Hollywood names 20 years before), the young actor is a selfish flake, and the starlet has a rocky emotional background. But together, the crew can overcome these issues and function as a unit. The propman may gesture to the rest of the crew that the leading lady is drunk, but there's no malice in it ... the ever-loyal assistant director (Nathalie Baye) spreads the word that the star's son is sick and she's worried.

As with his other pictures, Truffaut doesn't force dramatic conflicts into the story. The main fracture, when the married actress sleeps with her co-star, threatens all kinds of fireworks, but settles again, with restraint and thoughtfulness from all concerned. There's enough soap to go around, but it's all communally shared and resolved. Director Ferrand helps smooth out some issues, and knows when to sic his A.D. on a problem ... his concern is his movie, first, second, and always. Day for Night is the antithesis of the big-deal, overblown histrionics in Two Weeks in Another Town (which is fun to watch for other reasons).

The director does offer voiceover narration from time to time, giving Truffaut an opportunity to advance his personal viewpoint. He worries about production problems, but sleeps with a guilt / joy dream of stealing photos from Citizen Kane. He's surrounded by books of film criticism, especially director studies, a touch which seems rather pat. By the looks of the dumb drama being filmed, Ferrand is not Truffaut, and the parts we see of Meet Pamela look rather trite. Worse, production problems cause him to totally change the script. Ferrand says he starts every shoot hoping to make a great picture, and ends by just being grateful to finish at all.

The most successful part of Day for Night is the ensemble feeling. The grand actor turns out to be a charming trooper. The English actress whose French isn't perfect is accepted with grace. The callow punk actor (Jean-Pierre Léaud) is tolerated, even when he threatens the production. People sleep together, but keep it under control. There's enough of a love for the work, to motivate everyone to pitch in. Only the production manager's suspicious wife feels the need to make a scene about the behind-the-scenes scandals. She assaults the screen like the lady in The Birds who accuses Tippi Hedren of being a witch. Outsiders just don't understand.

Favorite scenes: The crew trying to get an uncooperative kitten to perform. Jacqueline Bisset climbing a rickety ladder (for real) to reach a high scaffolding where shooting is taking place. The charm of Day for night is that most everyone we see would do things for Truffaut that they wouldn't on an ordinary film.

An insurance man who holds up the production near the end, is identified as Grahame Greene in the cast list. According to the IMDB, it is indeed Grahame Green, the author of The Quiet American and The Third Man.

Warners' DVD of Day for Night has been carefully transferred from excellent elements. The colors are warm and pleasant - earlier video copies were rather grainy, if I recall. The anamorphic enhanced image looks better than the print I saw in Westwood when it was new. They may have shown the movie dubbed back then - this disc has both the original French and English dub audio tracks.

The show also comes with a battery of impressive extras. Following the SAG trend away from lengthier docus, there are instead 4 shorter pieces. Bisset's interview section is lovely, the analysis by Truffaut author Annette Insdorf a bit dry, and a piece on Truffaut's international appeal featuring Bob Balaban and Todd McCarthy very pleasant. The last short is actually four separate interviews, with actresses Dani and Nathalie Baye, actor Bernard Menez, and the film's editor. There are also trailers, and two interviews with Truffaut from when the film premiered.

Note: coming up soon from Criterion is a boxed set of Francois Truffaut's 'Léaud' pictures, the five or six features he made with the actor Jean-Pierre Léaud as he grew up, starting with The 400 Blows. I've only seen that one and Stolen Kisses, and both were marvelous.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Day for Night rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: 4 interview and documentary pieces on the film; trailer, 1974 interview clips
Packaging: Snapper case
Reviewed: April 4, 2003