Review by Doug Cooper
Stars Jacqueline Bisset, Valentina Cortese, Dani, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Alexandra Stewart, Jean Champion, Francois Truffaut,
Nike Arrighi, Nathalie Baye, David Markham,
Written by Jean-Louis Richard & Francois Truffaut
Certification UK 12A | US PG
Runtime 115 minutes
Directed by Francois Truffaut
Throughout February and March, London's BFI is presenting a comprehensive Francois Truffaut season including his classic 400 Blows, Jules et Jim, Shoot the Pianist, The Story of Adele H, The Last Metro, The Woman Next Door and of course the continuing adventures of Antoine Doinel among others.
The highlight however is this new print of his 1973 love letter to movie making. Day for Night is currently unavailable on DVD in the UK and is well worth seeking out on the Southbank. It's a gem.
It details the trials and tribulations of filming a simple love story called Meet Pamela. Truffaut himself is the harried director of the wistful Nice-set romance, constantly besieged by questions from all quarters while dealing with his leading lady (Bisset) who is recovering from a breakdown, her alcoholic co-star (Cortese) who cannot remember her lines, an unexpectedly pregnant looking supporting actress (Stewart) and the lovelorn youthful actor (Leaud) who is immature and confused over his romantic life. Meanwhile his producer (Champion) is worried about costs, his assistant (Baye) is casually sleeping with the props man (Menez) and the script girl (Dani) is leaving the production mid shoot to go off with a stuntman.
The ensemble cast are all terrific. Bisset has never looked more radiantly beautiful. She was a great sex symbol of the '70s and her acting talents were underrated. Here she gives a relaxed and beguiling performance that is not at all out of sync with her French co-stars. Everyone gets a chance to shine and everyone makes the most of the opportunity with relish.
It's a briskly paced piece of fluff, utterly charming and very engaging, and after nearly 40 years it still stands up as a delightful though not always realistic depiction of old style moviemaking. Thoroughly enjoyable.