“Day for Night (1973)” is a French film directed by Francois Truffaut. The film is centered around the lives of a crew during the short time they spend together filming, “I’d Like You to Meet Pamela” the movie within the movie. The movie is subtitled and dubbed in English from French, so alternate translations for this hypothetical film include “I Want You to Meet Pamela” and “Meet Pamela.”

Picture from “Day for Night (1973)”

The film has a very loose plot. At first, it almost seems as if there is no plot so to speak. The way Truffaut tells his story follows quite the non-linear path. There are multiple characters who may be considered the archetypal heroine or hero and they all go through parts of the stages of the traditional hero’s journey. However, the formula containing the buildup to the climax and following resolution will not be found in this independent film. This is not to say that the film is not good or thought provoking. In fact, the film is just those two exactly.

The movie brings up key ideas surrounding interesting and meaningful subjects. Many of the characters go though problems that force them to deal with issues surrounding feminism, generation gaps, immaturity and addiction.

For all the poor decisions the characters make, it is relatively easy to sympathize with them. Alphonse’s (Alphonse is a young actor who plays the son in “Meet Pamela”) rudimentary character is something that can be overlooked when his turbulent love life is brought to the front of the stage for scrutiny. His very visceral and human reactions to emotionally scarring events (which will not be reveal for those who would like to experience this movie for themselves) make him a much more relatable character on many levels.

Severine, the comeback-actress who is well on her way out of the show business is an alcoholic who has emotional breakdowns during shooting. She frequently forgets her stage directions and her lines and feels immense pressures–which is rather ironic for someone who has chosen to take the path of publicity and fame to earn a living. Again, she is another likable character. Despite her now sad role as the leading actress of a no-name production, Severine was revealed to have once been the cream-of-the-crop of the film industry, taking part in scandals and living the life many can only fantasize about at work.

The script itself is slow in that the events do not follow each other in tandem. Rather, there is a pause in between each scene to allow for the material to digest. In any case, the slow moments are picked up by the smart dialogue–some of which is even funny. As Joelle, the script girl, says at one point, she would gladly give up a “guy for a film,” but she would never give up “a film for a guy.”

As the traditional films and filmmaking techniques are slowly escorted out, “Day for Night” reminds the future generations that this incredibly time-consuming and beautiful art form once existed. “Day for Night” could even be called a documentary of what to do and what not to do for the posterior in hopes that one day the genre will be recovered.