I'm not sure "Day for Night" is a film about how films are made, I think it's more a film about how films should be made. They should be made by a crew of people who love doing their job, they should be made by actors who are excited to be working and have fun being on set, they should be made by a dead-panned director, an unassuming perfectionist, who treats his crew as a family.
I would love to be on the set for "Meet Pamela" the film within the film of "Day for Night", it all seems to lovely and fun, when you watch it, you know you are watching people who love movies. This is indeed a movie lover's kind of film, it was directed by Francois Truffaut, a man who I'm convinced loved movies more than any other director.
"Day for Night" is the story of a film being made, it's about what goes on behind the scenes with the actors, the crew, it's about their little dramas, and the drama itself of making a film on schedule and on budget. It's about getting the shot where the cat has to drink out of the bowl of milk, but you can't get him to do it. It's about the aging actress who is sad and resorts to drinking before her scene, and she can't quite remember her lines or which door to open. It's about another actress who is pregnant but isn't showing yet, however when she comes back to finish her scenes in six weeks, she will begin to show. It's about an actor who dies tragically, and right before the very last scene. It's a love story about the people who make movies, they are a funny sort of a surrogate family, and when it is finished, they all hope to make another one soon.
The reason I think I connect so much with "Day for Night" is I've lived these types of experiences, although mine mostly lays in theatre. I've been in productions or have helmed productions where everyone seems like a surrogate family, everyone is there for the work, they are there because they love the artform. When the show ends, there is always a small bit of sadness because we have lived with this production for awhile, but we know something else will be on the horizon.
Before I saw "Day for Night", I had one experience behind the camera trying to direct my first short film. I found that process to be not very fun, with people who didn't seem to want to work on it, I became frustrated, and defeated when it was all over. I regretted the way the film ended up, I didn't even want to look at it again.
Time went by, I had the urge to make another film, I had seen "Day for Night", seeing how everyone treated eachother which was the opposite of what I had experienced. When I had the chance to make another short film, it became much more low key, I was given more freedom to play around, to improvise, to experiment. It became a pleasant experience, and afterwards, I wanted to make another movie right away.
I think leading up to that time, I had learned to accept the art of movie making, I was ready to take on the headaches, but I felt I had something to prove, and a story to tell. If anything "Day for Night" is a reminder to me why I love movies, why I get so excited about it.
Francois Truffaut, was a director who has inspired many young filmmakers. His philosophy of film was that it could work as a journal, a way to bring out something very personal from your own life. Each one of Truffaut's films have a personal touch, and he was in my mind when I made my short film, I wanted to say something personal in the way I would hope he would. I've just realized, this isn't so much a review about the film "Day for Night" as it is a confession.
I'll forgo the many subplots of "Day for Night" which include a multitude of characters who operate in and around the film. Some of them are real actors who were cast as actors, and some of them are real technicians who were cast as technicians. Truffaut cast himself as the director, he plays him as someone who I suspect is close to himself in real life. He's a perfectionist, but he is never a dictator, he gains the trust of his collaborators through his integrity and love of the work. He's gentle with his actors, but in a way manipulative because you know he is always thinking about the film.
I don't know what else to say about "Day for Night" other than it's about the movies, and movies as Hitchcock said is "life with the dull bits cut out". "Day for Night" is a film for those people who don't think just going to the movies is enough, one has to be part of it as well, they want to get that sensation of seeing film go through a camera capturing drama unfolding, then to see the dailies, and finally to see the finish product knowing full well that they played even a little part in its creation. "Day for Night" is for people who believe movies are magic, and there's a reason they are.
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