La Notte
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Movie Reviews of La Notte
Movie Review: Just discovering the genius of Antonioni
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a newcomer to this realm of genius film making and I corroborate the eloquent and articulate observations by the reviewer from Minnesota. I simply want to add that after seeing and studying my first two Antonioni films (l'Avventura and La Notte) I am struck by the fact that just about any frame from these movies resembles a Cartier-Bresson photograph. There are so many levels of satisfaction in these films, intellectually and artistically. They are crafted like a great literary work, as mentioned by another reviewer, in the sense that no detail is accidental or superfluous. And like reading a great book, you get back what you put into it in terms of observation.Movie Review: Antonioni's best! Stunning visuals!
Summary: 5 Stars
The camera work and direction of this film are awe-inspiring. The scenes with Mastroianni entering the psychotic woman's hospital room, shot against the completely white wall, and the overhead shot of Moreau pulling up in the car are two of the best visual shots I can think of in any movie, anywhere!
A film that held my attention from start to finish (rare for an Antonioni flick), even though not a heck of a lot really happens in this film, other than a one night study of a couple's relationship. I think the two leads helped out a lot too, as Antonioni usually used lesser known stars, but picked two top notch names for this one.
Movie Review: Great film, crap DVD.
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this film, however I found the DVD to be unwatchable. The image jumps up and down throughout the entire length of the film, which left my head aching after it was over. Also, as the previous reviewer observed, this image is not properly matted. And, the print used for this transfer is a dirty one.I was hoping that this film would eventually be released on the DVD format and I bought it right away when it was. But, the job done by Fox Lorber/Winstar Video was a real disappointment to me. What a waste for a such a fine piece of cinematic art.
I guess I could always use the DVD as a rearview mirror ornament.
Movie Review: Habit kills love
Summary: 5 Stars
According to Bergman, this is one of the two chez d'oeuvres of Antonioni - the other one is "Blow-up", which I liked even more. A masterful study of a relationship through exposure of the protagonists to various situations. Tense and sad, it leaves the viewer with a sense of absence of a solution: feelings between two people inchoate, develop, and die... or change.Movie Review: Another gem from Antonioni
Summary: 4 Stars
La Notte is an apt title for the second film in Michelangelo Antonioni's trilogy, with L'Avventura being the first and L'Eclisse the last. All that symbolizes the night--darkness, melancholy, and particularly sleep and death, are referred to throughout the movie. Our difficulty communicating with one another and subsequent sense of alienation are, of course, addressed in La Notte just as they are in the other two films. The story here centers around a married couple, Giovanni (Marcello Mastroianni) and Lidia (Jeanne Moreau). From the moment we first see these two we sense a disconnect, a kind of sickness, even a death of sorts. Lidia's demeanor is zombie-like, as though she were sleepwalking. Without giving too much away, the opening scene, which Giovanni and Lidia are not in, subtly sets the tone for the film. A hospital patient is given morphine, which renders him half-awake and half-asleep. This state of being will take many forms and appear again and again in La Notte.
Lidia seems to be the only character in the movie with any depth of feeling, which is precisely why she has gone numb. Her pain overwhelms her. She suddenly leaves a party given for her husband, a writer who has just released a new book, to wander the streets of Milan. She is dwarfed and seemingly trapped by the skyscrapers surrounding her, and further alienated by the male passers-by who turn their heads to check her out. At one point she takes a taxi out of town to a more open area where, unlike Milan, not much has changed. But even here, shortly after stepping out of the taxi, she happens upon two street toughs engaged in a brawl which she fearlessly stops. It seems Lidia is searching for a paradise, an escape to salve her wounds, but there isn't one. Evening is falling now, streetlights gradually come on, and she returns home. Later that night, at another party she attends with her husband, she will do the same thing; wander around, alone and in pain.
It is at this party, which takes place at night and will last into the wee hours, where the problems between Lidia and Giovanni rise to the surface. And this is also where those symbols of the night mentioned earlier come at you one after the other. Antonioni is clever in how he portrays these symbols. One of the most interesting is a cat staring at a statue as if waiting for it to wake up and respond. Trying to catch all these metaphors is part of the enjoyment of this party segment.
One of the similarities between L'Avventura and La Notte is the men's handling of their troubled relationships versus the women's. Giovanni, as well as Sandro in L'Avventura, takes advantage of every opportunity to lose himself in the arms of another woman in order to fill the void. Lidia, on the other hand, has the chance to be with another man whom she meets at the party, but decides not to go through with it. She seems to know that the pleasure is fleeting and no cure for her marriage problems.
In the conclusion of the film the couple finally address what is happening between them, and it is heart-wrenching to watch. The truth hurts as they say. This ending differs from L'Avventura's in that more is said between the man and woman involved. We have a better idea of the outcome for Lidia and Giovanni, but we're still not quite sure of it even though they have verbalized their feelings. In L'Avventura, Claudia and Sandro do not say a word to each other and we are left with the same uncertainty. So one can derive that in the end we are alone no matter how hard we try to connect with another human being.
Jeanne Moreau, Marcello Mastroianni, and Monica Vitti are amazing. In this film, as in all of Antonioni's films, so much relies on facial expressions, gestures, and choreography, and these actors make it all look easy. However, even though La Notte is a great film, L'Avventura and L'Eclisse are better as they have a complexity and quiet beauty that is missing here. It is also a shame that La Notte is not in the Criterion Collection because there are no extras, no commentaries, interviews with the actors, etc. The bonus discs included in the other movies of the trilogy are a delight for the film buff. There is no doubt, despite these criticisms, that La Notte should be on everyone's list of movies to watch.