Analysis of Day for Night Movie - Essay Example

The soundtrack of the movie is by Georges Delerue which ornate the filmmaking art (IMDb, 1973). The plot of the movie revolves around Je Vous Presente Pamela (melodrama) and Jean—Pierre Aumont who portrays Alexandre, young heart-throb Alphonse (Jean-Pierre Leaud), Julie Baker (Jacqueline Bisset, an actress from Britain) and Severine (Valentina Cortese). Julie Baker is coming back from a nervous collapse and also an argument directed at her matrimony with an elderly doctor.

In the middle are various small monographs reporting the stories of the director and members of the crew and also of Truffaut himself in the role of Ferrand, behind the camera, all actors and crews go through various affairs, romances, split-ups, and their aftermaths. The production gets traumatized when their fiancee of Alphonse leaves him for a stuntman in the movie which further leads to one night's sleep with Julie. It all happens when Alexandre dies in a car accident and one of the secondary characters is found to be pregnant.

The characters all appear cliche and kind of imaginary in Francois Truffaut's comedy-drama and fun production in a witty hall of mirrors. The most eminent actor in real life, Jean-Pierre Leaud seems to be playing with an immature costar, Jacqueline Bisset. The balance is dysfunctional. However, Truffaut manages to keep the audience captivated by their technical means and stylistic efforts of Truffaut. The cast overall is good as actors are sometimes playing the roles of fictional thespians or crew members.

The period is effective. It is an interesting movie which stars Truffaut playing the director who is shooting a movie. He is the most convincing and modest actor while intertwining a story about how movies are made and how penetrating the emotional interactions between people making the movie can be. The camera angles are perfect. The movie starts a bit amateurish but as one hangs on to it, it becomes interesting. It is a low-tech film, however. Truffaut gives us an insight into how the crew of production works, sometimes at odds while showing things that can go erroneous at the set.

The movie starts with the technical complexities of the product but after some time is focused on the movie makers' personalities and the individual tales of each one of them. The audience is film-making students or students from media backgrounds. But, it appeals to people from all facets of life. Each story is meticulously crafted lavishly almost like most of the characters in a soap opera. With it, Truffaut brings together emotional conflict and how this conflict can be utilized to resolve many tales without being over-emotional.

I don’t like the version of the movie and there are some problems with the cinematography. The dubbed version I saw is kind of disturbing as I am trying to reunite dubbed actor with visualized one. Also, Jacqueline Bisset who is fluent in English is speaking French and somebody else who is speaking English for her is a lot to take. Well, I would recommend the French version with subtitles. The message Truffaut is trying to give here is what we say on Television or in movies is a simplified version of what is happening behind the camera.