769 Day for Night

[swo17]

Day for Night



This loving farce from François Truffaut about the joys and turbulence of moviemaking is one of his most beloved films. Truffaut himself appears as the harried director of a frivolous melodrama, the shooting of which is plagued by the whims of a neurotic actor (Jean-Pierre Léaud); an aging but still forceful Italian diva (Valentina Cortese); and a British ingenue haunted by personal scandal (Jacqueline Bisset). An irreverent paean to the prosaic craft of cinema as well as a delightful human comedy about the pitfalls of love and sex, Day for Night is buoyed by robust performances and a sparkling score by the legendary Georges Delerue.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New visual essay by filmmaker :: kogonada
• New interview with cinematographer Pierre-William Glenn
• New interview with film scholar Dudley Andrew
• Documentary on the film from 2003, featuring film scholar Annette Insdorf
• Archival interviews with director François Truffaut; editor Yann Dedet; and actors Jean-Pierre Aumont, Nathalie Baye, Jacqueline Bisset, Dani, and Bernard Menez
• Television footage of Truffaut on the film's set in 1972
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by critic David Cairns

[criterion10]

Criterion seems to have restored the film to its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio (the WB DVD was slightly bastardized at 1.78:1). Also seems like the majority of extras from the old DVD have been carried over.

[cdnchris]

Just so everyone knows, Warner Bros. is indicated as the licensor in the sell sheets.

[criterion10]

Beaver

[hearthesilence]

Just out of curiosity, is anyone else here a Truffaut fan but somewhat mixed about this film? When I first got into Truffaut, I remember this one standing out as a reported popular favorite (and of course, an Oscar winner), and when I finally tracked down a copy, I remember being thrown by how conventional and even a bit mushy it seemed compared to the Truffaut films that made me an enormous fan of the French New Wave (most of his '60s work and L'Histoire d'Adèle H.). It was only later that I discovered Godard's response, etc.

[warren oates]

I'm not a big Truffaut fan but this is one of a handful of his films I have a copy of, largely because it feels so universally true to the process of filmmaking and maybe a bit more honest than some of those other behind the scenes films because it doesn't protect itself by hiding behind a cynical tone. (I don't know anybody, even those who consistently make boring or forgettable films, who's in the game for all the wrong reasons all the time.) For my money, the best scene in the film is the one where

Spoiler

director Truffaut playing a director gets a new package of film books after a day of difficult work and he nerd-blisses out, reconnects with his cinephilia and is kind of all good to go again.

If you can't get behind stuff like that or find it too schmaltzy, well... Anyway, I haven't seen this in a while and I'm excited to revisit it in the new edition.

[criterion10]

I did a Truffaut retrospective a few months ago, and Day for Night was probably the film I had the highest expectations for. Initially, I was slightly underwhelmed, most likely due to the fact that I was expecting a Godard-esque dissection on the nature of cinema. Thus, a lighthearted, melodramatic farce left me surprised and upset that there was little beneath the surface of what is merely a passionate depiction of the process of filmmaking. Needless to say, it's since grown on me significantly (I love it for what it is, regardless of what I expected it to be), and I'd even make the argument that it's my favorite Truffaut film.

[hearthesilence]

I'd have to see it again to single out anything, but as nice as that scene sounds, wasn't the movie they were making supposed to be mediocre? I remember having that impression. This was a while ago but I just remember feeling the idea of "making any movie is magical" felt a little smarmy at the time.

[Professor Wagstaff]

I'd have to see it again to single out anything, but as nice as that scene sounds, wasn't the movie they were making supposed to be mediocre? I remember having that impression. This was a while ago but I just remember feeling the idea of "making any movie is magical" felt a little smarmy at the time.

I just watched the disc and some of the features. The ::kogonada video essay talks about how audiences should reconsider the common idea that Meet Pamela is mediocre filmmaking. Specifically the essay ties in the strong parallels Meet Pamela has to The Soft Skin, a movie Truffaut was proud of making. I found it refreshing to hear that perspective since I've always assumed Meet Pamela was disposable melodrama.

[hearthesilence]

Interesting. I only recently caught up with The Soft Skin and liked it quite a bit, so perhaps it'll make an enlightening double feature should I revisit Day for Night.

[Minkin]

Blu-ray.com

[movielocke]

I'd have to see it again to single out anything, but as nice as that scene sounds, wasn't the movie they were making supposed to be mediocre? I remember having that impression. This was a while ago but I just remember feeling the idea of "making any movie is magical" felt a little smarmy at the time.

I just watched the disc and some of the features. The ::kogonada video essay talks about how audiences should reconsider the common idea that Meet Pamela is mediocre filmmaking. Specifically the essay ties in the strong parallels Meet Pamela has to The Soft Skin, a movie Truffaut was proud of making. I found it refreshing to hear that perspective since I've always assumed Meet Pamela was disposable melodrama.

the kogo nada essay also does an incredible breakdown and parallel playback of the dreams, illustrating how they transition in and out of the larger film and are affected by and effect the context around them. It's the best extra I've seen on a criterion this year.

[manicsounds]

UK release October 24th

[omegadirective]

Wow, it’s wild what people are charging for this on eBay for it having just gone out of print.

Did this go OOP because of a licensing loss, or are they releasing a 4K?

[domino harvey]

It was literally going for like $18 on eBay just a couple weeks before it went OOP, because I looked into picking up a copy and decided to wait. The original release had unadvertised inserts for the film within a film, so I wonder if it is just between pressings (and these likely wouldn’t be included in a second run)?

[dwk]

I think it is most likely that Warner Brothers' rights to the film expired and it is back with Truffaut's estate. I imagine that mk2 will handle licensing for the film sometime soon.

[omegadirective]

It was literally going for like $18 on eBay just a couple weeks before it went OOP, because I looked into picking up a copy and decided to wait. The original release had unadvertised inserts for the film within a film, so I wonder if it is just between pressings (and these likely wouldn’t be included in a second run)?

Do you have pictures of the inserts?

This site doesnt show them in the packaging

https://www.criterionforum.org/Packagin ... on-blu-ray

[Walter Kurtz]

This video doesn't show the inserts either. But I'm posting the link because it may be the greatest video of all time.

The Fetishization of the Criterion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUEaftAsGYw

The only thing it's missing is Lou Reed singing... shiny shiny... shiny gloves of leather.

[domino harvey]

I don’t have a pic. It was a white postcard with blue ink, as I recall. Now I’m doubly sad I didn’t pick up the used copy I saw with it!

[dwk]

I got my copy during the November sale in 2015, just 3 months after it was released, and didn't get anything extra.

[cdnchris]

I never received anything like that either, so that's why there are no pictures of it on this site.

[Saturnome]

I bought it in 2019 and it's the first I ever heard of these extras.

[TMDaines]

Wasn't in the UK release either.