Almost 50 years after it was originally
made, Francoise Truffaut Day For Night truly stands the test of time. The French classic directed by the great French new wave director Francoise Truffaut is one of his finest achievements and a much beloved film. The film even after all these years is still as entertaining and influential as it was when it was originally released almost 50 years ago. It’s an entertaining romance drama about the struggle, the love and passion of the amazing craft we call filmmaking. It’s a film in which Truffaut asks yet again the powerful question of ‘Is cinema more important than life?’. The film is essentially about making movies with a romance story built within it, but even more than that it’s a love letter to cinema, a craft in which Truffaut devoted his life to, with Truffaut once saying, ‘it was his own reason for living’. It’s an affectionate film with Truffaut himself staring as an ambitious director committed to his craft. It’s quite a funny and charming film that takes you into the strenuous world and selfish mind of a film director. American film director Brian De Palma, a great admirer of Truffaut was so influenced by the opening titles designed by Michel Francois, that De Palma himself used a very similar opening title for his film Blow Out released in 1981 replacing the orchestra with screams and a beating heart. Day For Night also has a remarkable soundtrack scored by the effortlessly talented Georges Delerue who through his music gave the film this wonderful sense of hope which is essentially all that a film director really has. The film is still very highly regarded by critics all over the world with Roger Ebert saying, "it is not only the best movie ever made about the movies but is also a great entertainment." Day For Night is still considered to be one Truffaut's best with it being one of two Truffaut films on Time magazine's list of the 100 Best Films of the Century, along with his other classic The 400 Blows. Day For Night went on to pick up many awards at film festivals in 1973 and even went on to win an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film. As a whole I’d describe Day For Night as a beautifully crafted depiction of what a film director truly is. I’d give this film a score of 4 stars as it’s a film that makes you adore cinema just that little bit more.
Synopsis: A committed film director struggles to finish his movie with several unexpected troubles both personal and professional effecting the cast and crew.
Director – Francoise Truffaut Rating – PG Genre – Romance/Drama Run Time – 1h 50 Language – French, English
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