La Notte

La Notte
by Michelangelo Antonioni

La Notte
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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Bernhard Wicki, Jeanne Moreau, Marcello Mastroianni, Monica Vitti, Rosy Mazzacurati
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Brand: Genius
Cinematographer: Gianni Di Venanzo
Writer: Michelangelo Antonioni
Editor: Eraldo Da Roma
Producer: Emanuele Cassuto
Writer: Ennio Flaiano
Writer: Tonino Guerra
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 122 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-05-08
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Fox Lorber

Movie Reviews of La Notte

Movie Review: "Who wrote that?"
Summary: 3 Stars

"La Notte" (1961) tells of the unraveling marriage between a semi-successful author (Marcello Mastroianni) and his wealthy wife (Jeanne Moreau). The couple no longer communicates, and we see their growing unhappiness as a single day unfolds. Nothing particularly dramatic occurs, aside from the kind of daily events that slowly drain a decaying marriage. The couple visits a dying friend, goes to a club, and ends the evening at a party. The result is a realistic look at what happens in many marriages as love dies and resentments mount. Unfortunately, such a mundane examination of alienation makes for rather dull watching.

I don't mind slow-moving foreign films, but "La Notte" was also uninteresting and suprisingly shallow. Director Michelangelo Antonioni has explored the topic of alienation and the distance that forms between even intimate couples much better in other movies, notably the superb "L'avventura" (1960). I was really hoping to love "La Notte" considering the excellence of "L'avventura;" these two movies, along with "L'eclisse," form Antonioni's trilogy centering on the theme of "incommunicability" or isolation. However, I simply didn't care what happened to the characters - it didn't matter to me whether they would split or make their relationship work. Although the characters and situations were realistic, the exploration of their issues could have delved far deeper.

On the positive side, "La Notte" is very well acted, with Moreau effectively conveying ennui and dissatisfaction mixed with sensuality. She looks gorgeous and the fashions of the period really suit her. The movie also captures early 1960s Italy. In particular, the ending party scene evokes the time and place well and is reminiscent of other Italian movies of the time, such as Fellini's "8?" and "La Dolce Vita." Seeing the partygoers wildly swimming and frolicking in the rain is quite beautiful, although not enough to make this movie merit four stars. The movie is worth a look, though, for fans of Italian cinema or Antonioni.

Summary of La Notte

Antonioni's study of alienation and moral decay chronicles a day in the life of a middle-class couple whose marriage has been destroyed by mutual indifference and impenetrable loneliness.
Continuing the "alienation trilogy" that began with L'Avventura and ended with L'Eclisse, Michelangelo Antonioni's La Notte is a visually arresting, emotionally numbing exercise in chronic ennui. The film's anesthetizing effect is entirely intentional; Antonioni's central couple (Marcello Mastroianni as a self-absorbed novelist, Jeanne Moreau as his bored and wealthy wife) wallow in their own emotional desolation, constantly drifting--and in Moreau's case, literally drifting--from one disaffected scene to the next. Antonioni's pained study of modern detachment is richly supported by his visuals, often placing his isolated characters in a harsh landscape of empty glamor and even emptier emotions. Driving the point home is Monica Vitti as Marcello's would-be mistress; in their aimless lassitude, neither can muster the necessary passion. It's all too superficial to register with any lasting dramatic impact, but La Notte remains the fascinating work of a master, redefining how movies reflect the many facets of humanity. --Jeff Shannon

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