La Notte (1961)

Original title

La notte

Directed by

Michelangelo Antonioni

Genre

drama film

Country

France, Italy

Runtime

2h 02m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.9 of 10 from 743 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A disillusioned novelist and his alienated wife spend a single day and night drifting through social circles in Milan. The film follows their emotional distance and the emptiness of their relationship.

slow-burnmelancholicalienatingintrospectivequietrestlesssomberatmospheric

What happens

La Notte ([la ˈnɔtte]; English: "The Night") is a 1961 Italian drama film co-written and directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and starring Marcello Mastroianni, Jeanne Moreau and Monica Vitti. Filmed on location in Milan, the film depicts a single day and night in the lives of a disillusioned novelist (Mastroianni) and his alienated wife (Moreau) as they move through various social circles. The film continues Antonioni's technique of abandoning traditional storytelling in favor of visual composition, atmosphere, and mood. Grossing 470 million lire and receiving widespread critical acclaim for its exploration of modernist themes of isolation, alienation and emotional detachment. La Notte received the Golden Bear at the 11th Berlin International Film Festival. The film also earned Antonioni the 1961 David di Donatello Award for Best Director. Although selected as the Italian entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 34th Academy Awards, it was not nominated. La Notte is considered the central film of a trilogy called "Trilogy Of Incommunicability", beginning with L'Avventura (1960) and ending with L'Eclisse (1962). It was one of Stanley Kubrick's 10 favorite films, received 4 votes from critics and 6 votes from directors in the 2012 Sight & Sound greatest films poll, and ranked as the 52nd greatest film of all time in the 2022 director's poll with 12 votes. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• L'Avventura (1960)
• Of Flesh and Blood (1963)
• La fête espagnole (1961)
• Father's Trip (1966)
• The Wastrel (1961)
• Le Chant du monde (1965)
• Journey to Italy (1954)
• Il Grido (1957)