Day For Night (AA), September 1979

DAY FOR NIGHT (AA)  (France /Italy 1973: director Francois Truffaut)

JACQUELINE BISSET, VALENTINA CORTESE, JEAN-PIERRE AUMONT, JEAN-PIERRE LEAUD.  This is the one you may remember seeing clips from on the box about three years ago, when it won half the academy Awards (British as well as American) going – and then it almost vanished, since our cowardly major distributors think no-one will go to any movie with sub-titles unless it’s a pictorial history of sex (when, I do see, they wouldn’t interfere too much).  Anyway, this is only an attractive, well-made, entertaining, brilliantly acted, moving, funny and absorbing homage to the cinema medium itself, so of course, to the big business boys, no-one could possibly want to see it.  But if you like movies, grab this while you can.  Director TRUFFAUT himself co-stars as the director of a movie-within-the-movie, and CORTESE really earned her Oscar for her portrayal of the temperamental star suddenly faced with an old flame as her leading man.  BISSET is the American guest star causing havoc in the male camp (well, I didn’t say there wasn’t any sex, did I?) and the whole film’s compulsive viewing.  Plus cartoon.

(programme 123 minutes approx.)

Tickets for all performances 70p and £1.00