"Day for Night"

This was an enjoyable and clever film that unlike later Godard films allowed me to relax and follow a story. It was great viewing Truffaut's depiction of a studio made movie. Truffaut himself was very natural on screen, playing a struggling young director, and was not a bad actor.

The idea of making a film about the process and drama that goes into the production of an actual film was very revealing and in my opinion educational. I rarely think of clashing personalities, love affairs and experiences of my favorite actors, actresses, cinematographers, directors etc. while they shot my favorite movie. This made me look at the process of film making in a more psychoanalytical way. It was almost as if Truffaut's character was forced to play a parental type role to his staff. This was incredibly stressful because he was battling the high expectations of producers and his personal demons.

Mundane and comical problems became a real hinder to the process. One particular problem that I found enjoyable and quite comical was the kitten that would not drink the milk. The entire shot and days work was in jeopardy because the cat they chose for the scene was to bashful to drink the presented milk outside the supposed hotel room of the lovers having the affair. I believe this may of been a presentation by Truffaut to viewers and staff including actors and actresses, of how stressful his job really is.

He displayed the main actor as a complex love sicken pre-Madonna. The actors personal flaws almost stopped the production of the entire movie. This makes you wonder about the people that are professional actors and actresses and how many times things like this may happen on the actual shooting of a film. Especially in today's Hollywood films, the actors and actresses hold an incredible amount of power and can make or break a directors film. I truly believe this was Truffaut venting.