Jean-Pierre Léaud suppresses a smile at the end of two scenes, in a amazing way. You may have to love the movie to notice.
One scene is the one where director comforts 'Alphonse' in the hallway of his hotel room. What shines out here is how much respect Léaud and Truffaut had for each other. The actor is not just enjoying pretending to be serious, he is appreciating the ironies in the script, everything.
The other time is when the assistant finds 'Alphonse' riding toy cars, when he comes screeching to a halt in the little vehicle. You can tell Léaud cannot help but break into a miniscule smile. Very subtle, but it is there.
I loved the magazine-cover scene. The score to 'Pamela' has to be played over the phone to the composer (something like that), so we get to hear the music as we are shown shots of magazine covers depicting film directors. Only trivial in the sense that a beautiful sunset is trivial.
What is great about this movie is that is not serious but at the same time it is serious. For instance, I think it is unfair to criticize Bisset for a leaden performance, her role is the most difficult because she has to play tragic in a comedy.
I love the title (both the French one and the American one), but it might give a false impression about this fun movie.
More than any other non-serious movie, I highly recommend watching 'Day for Night' from the beginning. If you start in the middle it might come across as lightweight, its subtleties lost.
One scene is the one where director comforts 'Alphonse' in the hallway of his hotel room. What shines out here is how much respect Léaud and Truffaut had for each other. The actor is not just enjoying pretending to be serious, he is appreciating the ironies in the script, everything.
The other time is when the assistant finds 'Alphonse' riding toy cars, when he comes screeching to a halt in the little vehicle. You can tell Léaud cannot help but break into a miniscule smile. Very subtle, but it is there.
I loved the magazine-cover scene. The score to 'Pamela' has to be played over the phone to the composer (something like that), so we get to hear the music as we are shown shots of magazine covers depicting film directors. Only trivial in the sense that a beautiful sunset is trivial.
What is great about this movie is that is not serious but at the same time it is serious. For instance, I think it is unfair to criticize Bisset for a leaden performance, her role is the most difficult because she has to play tragic in a comedy.
I love the title (both the French one and the American one), but it might give a false impression about this fun movie.
More than any other non-serious movie, I highly recommend watching 'Day for Night' from the beginning. If you start in the middle it might come across as lightweight, its subtleties lost.