RipDelight
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
Fairaher
The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Vonia
A nicely made love letter to the often chaotic, complicated, drama filled, engaging process of making a film. It should be viewed more as a documentary than an entertaining show, since not that much really happens that holds any meaning. At times, it was even a little boring. It would actually be quite educational to the everyday viewer, revealing a few secrets in the industry. The title, for example, refers to the cinematic techniques used to simulate a night scene while filming in daylight, usually involving filters. I always appreciate it when the director is more than the director. Here, François Truffaut fittingly plays the director. Overall, an interesting if not very captivating film.
nil-gul-caliskan-3
Good movie for 1973. The story-line is full of drama caused by the people who go emotional all the time which keeps them away from working decently in the play: Cheating on husbands, disappearing from fiances' life without leaving a note, calling the husband of the woman who slept with you to let him know his wife cheated on him,..I also didn't get how Julie could kiss that guy on the lips after that spying. Also there was a scene where Julie was interviewed and asked if people care if a girl sleeps with her husband's father, to which she answers: "Listen, when I like a script enough to do it, audiences will like it, too." in which, neither the question or the answer makes sense.Made me think, how dramatic these people's lives are in those years? For sure the movies are not real stories, but it gives me an idea on the social situation of the society.
Barbouzes
Truffaut -how shall I say this?- is grossly overrated. I did my homework: I have now seen 5 of his movies and I am stunned by the attention such an inept filmmaker has commanded over the years in critics' writings. What on earth is there to praise in Truffaut's flaccid movies? They all feel to me like a high school kid fond of cinema made them: immature and clichéd in both content and form. Critics, open your eyes: this a filmmaker who has botched every good plot he was given (Mississipi Siren, Les 2 Anglaises et le Continent, The Bride Wore Black) misused great actors (Catherine Deneuve, Jeanne Moreau) and overused very bad actors (Jean-Pierre Leaud, who, after his miraculous turn as a child in The 400 Blows, was never able to speak or act in a compelling or even noticeable manner. There he is again in Day For Night, flat as a failed soufflé, bland as porridge. And we are supposed to believe he seduces Jacqueline Bisset in this story?! Casting, people, casting!) Day For Night features characters that are cardboard cutouts, actors that have clichés dialogs to emote to, situations that feels forced or trite. It is lightweight material, from which you come out vaguely entertained, and mostly frustrated: what a waste of time, and all this national and international praise for such fluff? Did I learn anything from this movie? Did it make me think, did parts of it resonate in my life or mind, did it make me want to see more or do something better with my life? Was there any real emotion on screen?I saw recently in my local art house theater "A Nos Amours" of Maurice Pialat. Same country, same generation of filmmaker, but oh what a difference of authenticity and competency. Time to throw off the false gods and promote quality: bury Godard, forget Truffaut -watch Pialat, and feel something.
PassPopcorn
"Day for night" is a technique used in cinematography to shoot a scene during the day and make it look like night by applying special filters or particular film stock. The original title of the movie, La nuit américaine, is the French phrase for the technique, and also a nod to American cinema, which Truffaut thought had a great influence on the French New Wave. This 'movie about movie-making' was also greatly inspired by Fellini's 8 1/2, only Day for Night appears to be the funnier, less main-character-centered version of 8 1/2. It won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1974.Day for Night follows the lives of members of a filmmaking crew, rushing to finish a movie called 'Je Vous Presente Pamela' before the deadline. I'd say there is no protagonist, although the director Ferrand (François Truffaut) keeps things together and going, while living in fear of not finishing the movie in time. There is Julie (Jacqueline Bisset), brought from Great Britain to play Pamela, who has recently suffered a nervous breakdown. Then we have Alphonse (Jean-Pierre Léaud), a boy in the body of a man, who seems to want to marry any girl that sleeps with him; and Severine (Valentina Cortese, nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role), an actress who develops a drinking problem since she can't cope with her aging; and many others.Along with The 400 Blows, this is an autobiographical movie. But, unlike the aforementioned, Day for Night is a funny, entertaining view of Truffaut's adult life and of his job. Also, unlike 8 1/2 – which is a movie about not being able to resolve one's personal problems and wanting to quit filmmaking – this is all about working hard, overcoming all sorts of obstacles and ultimately finishing what you started. As I said before, it doesn't concentrate on one character only, which makes it a bit chaotic – but in a very enjoyable way – as well as interesting and never tedious. The actors' great performances manage to get a reaction from the audience whenever something happens to their characters, regardless of how long they've been on screen.Hommages to other great directors are worth mentioning too. In a scene, Ferrand receives a package full of books that are supposed to help him with his movie: the books are about Buñuel, Rossellini, Bergman, Hitchcock, Godard and others. Then there is Ferrand's dream about himself as a child, going to a closed cinema only to steal photos of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, perhaps symbolising only his love for the movie, or also him knowing he (and any other director?) will never film anything better, so he can only steal from it. All in all, this is a very realistic movie that leads us through many struggles so we can reach some sort of Greek tragedy-like catharsis with the happy ending, and rejoice with the characters.Rating: 9/10 Read more at http://passpopcorn.wordpress.com/
