In the Mood for Truffaut

Mrs. Lajoie: What is this movie business? Where everyone sleeps with everyone! Everyone lies. Do you think it's normal? Your movie world...

Ferrand (off camera): You're a very good actor. No one's private life runs smoothly. That only happens in the movies. No traffic jams, no dead periods. Movies go along like trains in the night. And people like you and me are only happy in our work.

I've been in a real François Truffaut mood lately. Earlier this week, I gave a small presentation about him in my French class (entirely in French...it was pretty amazing). I've only seen three of his films but Truffaut is one of my favorites. The 400 Blows and Day for Night are masterpieces through and through and even if I didn't completely "get" Jules et Jim (I think it's one of those films that I will understand better when I'm a bit older) I have to admit that it was an ambitious film and there were some great things in it.

These two shots above are from Day for Night, a film about the making of a film. Unlike most films about the making of a film, Truffaut's isn't bitter or cynical. Instead, Day for Night is a love letter to the process of getting a story onto film. For a man who once asked "Is the cinema more important than life?", Day for Night seems to answer it with a resounding yes. Even when things go bad (and they definitely do), Ferrand (the director in Day for Night, played by Truffaut) still loves what he's doing.