The Cinematheque

“Wildly inventive … One of the great movies about what happens before ​‘action’ and after ​‘cut.’”

Film Society of Lincoln Center

French luminary Olivier Assayas (Cold Water, Personal Shopper) followed the storied Cahiers du cinéma-critic-to-cinéaste career path of his celebrated forebears Godard, Truffaut, Chabrol et al. In this quicksilver comedy, his international breakthrough, Assayas lovingly lampoons the pretensions and pratfalls of making movies, takes satirical shots at the contemporary state of French cinema, and pays fond tribute to Truffaut’s own valentine to filmmaking, Day for Night. Truffaut icon Jean-Pierre Léaud plays a has-been auteur directing a remake of a classic French silent serial (Louis Feuillade’s Les vampires). His crew holds him in contempt; his lead actress—Hong Kong star Maggie Cheung, clad in skin-tight latex, and playing herself—can’t speak a word of French. The doomed production descends into chaos. Canadian Arsinée Khanjian appears.