Day for Night or La Nuit Américaine is a 1973 film directed by François Truffaut (1932-84) and written by Truffaut in collaboration with Suzzane Schiffman (1929 – 2001) as well as Jean-Louis Richard (1927 – 2012). A film within a film, it presents life on and off the camera as characters struggle between conflicts of love, work, life’s purpose and the art of filmmaking. Characters deal the problems as individuals yet as part of a production, they are collectively affected by each one’s actions.
In the film, director Ferrand played by Truffaut himself is on the verge of finishing his movie Je Vous Présente Paméla (Meet Pamela) that stars the hunk Alphonse (Jean-Pierre Léaud), the veteran Alexandre (Jean-Pierre Aumont), the former popular star Séverine (Valentina Cortese) and the depressed British actress Julie Baker (Jacqueline Bisset) who is entangled in the controversy of marrying her much older doctor (David Markham) while in a state of nervous breakdown and reality of a dying son.
What follows after the marriage episode is a series of compelling twists among people concerned in the making of a movie such as the actors and people behind the camera including the artistic staffs as well as production crews. Off-camera, actors are involved love affairs clouded by break-ups and sad moments. For one, Alphonse is dumped by his girlfriend Liliane (Dani Graule) who falls in love with the stuntman (Marc Boyle). This enraged Alphonse and complicated himself to a one time affair with Julie. Meanwhile, a supporting actress becomes pregnant and Alexandre is found in a car accident.
The film then engages the audience with the complexities behind making a film and brings them to a real world that actors and crews would rather not embrace but escape instead. Thus, Ferrand thinks that the process of “making a film is like a stagecoach ride in the old west” wherein one expects a smooth long trip but with the uncertainty whether you will really make it to the end (French 1). In the name of passion though, the artist hopes to survive halfway and overcome personal problems that may get in the way of professional productivity.
The purpose of the movie is effectively shared as the audience gain a vivid understanding of what film making is all about based on its lifeline. It also brings to the fore the relative significance of filmmakers and the film itself. The tricks and artificialities to create believable illusions in Day for Night add up to the audience’s enjoyment while such exploration also reveals the creativity based on artificiality as an open secret of great filmmaking.
It must be noted that the film’s title itself refers to the technical process of using artificial light like tungsten to suggest night in outdoor day shooting. In connection to this, Truffaut through his mouthpiece Ferrand is able to clearly present the distinction between a filmic melodrama and a real-life drama.
Meanwhile, the characters of Julie and Severine provide the comic relief in the entire film. Their humor appears to the viewers without any caution making the film interestingly hilarious. Julie’s husband on the other hand is the binary opposite being the representation of extreme boredom and uninteresting personality.
After watching the film, one is able to appreciate how people in the world of filmmaking cope up with real life situations in the same manner that they are able to justify their character sketch, their acting and their craft on-camera.
Truffaut approaches the ironies in the film as well as the juxtaposition of real life situations through a combination of drama and comedy. His style then sparked the eventual birth in the late 1950s of French New Wave (La Nouvelle Vague) that collectively refers to filmmakers who popularize the documentary style through portable gadgets and taking current themes from pressing issues instead of adapting classical literature (Canby 1). Present documentary and guerilla filmmaking then owes much to the innovation of Truffaut in the classic French film Day for Night.
Works Cited
Canby, Vincent. "Day for Night (1973) Screen: Truffaut's Own World Viewed from inside the Cast." The New York Times [New York] 29 Sept. 1973: n. pag. Print.
French, Phillip. "Day for Night." The Gurdian [London] 20 Feb. 2011: n. pag. Print.
Truffaut, François, Jacqueline Bisset, Jean P. Aumont, Valentina Cortese, Jean Champion, Dani, and Jean-Pierre Léaud. Day for Night: La Nuit Amércaine. Burbank, CA n.p., 2003. Print.
Day for Night (La Nuit Américaine). Dir. François Truffaut. Perf. Jacqueline Bisset, Valentina Cortese, Dani, Alexandra Stewart, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Jean Champion, Jean-Pierre Léaud and Truffaut. Les Films du Carrosse, PECF and Produzione Intercontinentale Cinematografica, 1973. Film.
