The only one of François Truffaut’s films that I had seen prior to this was THE 400 BLOWS. Controversially I don’t love the film, but I think that is in part to being so far away from when it was initially released. That was why I was delightfully surprised about how much I loved this. The film presents such simple scenes, but they utilize big sets, a lot of people, and become so much more complex than you can imagine. There are so many moments where they are shooting the film that I could watch for hours. I could watch the kitten try to find the bowl and never be bored. The scene where Séverine has to keep doing a scene over because she doesn’t know her lines and then continually opens the wrong door is fantastic as well. There is a moment where you think she has finally gotten it right as she reaches for the right door that you are on the edge of your seat, only for her to open the wrong door at the last second. That sounds so low-stakes and boring, but it is palpable. I love that Truffaut also cast himself as the director. It not only comments well on the film as a whole, but he is also great in the role. His dream sequences/memories at night are also compelling despite how short and simple they are. The film was about 2 hours long and it flew by. This is the best film about making a movie that I have ever seen (that isn’t a documentary — the best is really HEARTS OF DARKNESS).
