Day for Night (film)

Day for Night
Theatrical release poster by Bill Gold
FrenchLa nuit américaine
LiterallyAmerican Night
Directed byFrançois Truffaut
Written by
Produced byMarcel Berbert
Starring
CinematographyPierre-William Glenn
Edited by
  • Yann Dedet
  • Martine Barraquè
Music byGeorges Delerue
Production
companies
  • Les Films du Carrosse
  • PECF
  • PIC
Distributed byWarner-Columbia Film
Release dates
  • 14 May 1973 (1973-05-14) (Cannes)
  • 24 May 1973 (1973-05-24) (France)
  • 7 September 1973 (1973-09-07) (Italy)
Running time
116 minutes
Countries
LanguageFrench
Budget$700,000[2]
Box office839,583 admissions (France)[3]

Day for Night (French: La Nuit américaine, lit. 'American Night') is a 1973 romantic comedy-drama film co-written and directed by François Truffaut. The metafictional and self-reflexive film chronicles the troubled production of a melodrama, and the various personal and professional challenges of the cast and crew. It stars Jacqueline Bisset, Valentina Cortese, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Dani, Alexandra Stewart, Jean-Pierre Léaud and Truffaut himself.[4]

The film premiered out of competition at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film the following year.[5] At the 1975 Oscars, the film was nominated for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress for Valentina Cortese. The film also won three BAFTA Awards, for Best Film, Best Direction, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Cortese.

Retrospective reviews have appraised Day for Night as one of Truffaut's best films, and one of the greatest films of all time.[6][7]

  1. ^ a b "La Nuit américaine". European Audiovisual Observatory. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  2. ^ Gussow, Mel (9 October 1973). "Truffaut Describes Adventure of Film". The New York Times. p. 42. ISSN 0362-4331.
  3. ^ "Box Office information for Francois Truffaut films". Box Office Story (in French).
  4. ^ Allen, Don (1985). Finally Truffaut. New York: Beaufort Books. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-8253-0335-7.
  5. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Day for Night". Cannes Film Festival. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference tcmart was invoked but never defined (see the help page).