La Notte (1961)
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71% of critics liked it
(14 reviews) -
91% of users liked it
(5,090 ratings)
La Notte is another of Michelangelo Antonioni's cinematic interrupted journeys. Just as no one solved the central mystery in Antonioni's L'Avventura, neither does anyone truly enjoy the literary party that is La Notte's centerpiece. The party is being thrown to celebrate the… More La Notte is another of Michelangelo Antonioni's cinematic interrupted journeys. Just as no one solved the central mystery in Antonioni's L'Avventura, neither does anyone truly enjoy the literary party that is La Notte's centerpiece. The party is being thrown to celebrate the publication of author Marcello Mastrioanni's new novel. But before he even reaches the door of the house, Mastrioanni's evening is ruined when his wife Jeanne Moreau announces suddenly she is disgusted with him--this reaction evidently triggered by an earlier visit to a dying friend. Moreau skips out on the party to wander the streets, searching for...for what? Meanwhile, Mastrioanni tries to inaugurate an empty affair with Monica Vitti, the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. The very elements that drive Mastrioanni and Moreau apart at the beginning of the film reunite them at the end. Maybe. L'Avventura and La Notte were the first two chapters in Antonioni's "barreness and alienation" trilogy; the third, L'Eclisse, was released two years later. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Written By
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Genres
- Art House & International, Drama
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1961 Wide
- Studio
- Nepi Film
Critic Reviews
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, Time Out
It's impossible to discern the relevance of this kind of film-making, which is doubtless why nobody (including Antonioni) practises it any more.
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Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Too sensitive and subtle for apt description are his pictorial fashionings of a social atmosphere, a rarefied intellectual climate, a psychologically stultifying milieu...Even boredom is made interesting by him.
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Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Whatever one's occasional misgivings, this feature comes from what is widely considered to be Antonioni's richest period, and evidence of his stunning mastery is available throughout.
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Jay Antani, Cinema Writer
Stylistically, La Notte intrigues but, in the realm of ideas, I think the movie begins to plod and drag halfway through
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Anton Bitel, Film4
For all the sublimity of its craft, La Notte will leave most viewers feeling no less bored than its ennui-afflicted characters.
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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Marcello Mastroianni
as Giovanni Pontano
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Jeanne Moreau
as Lidia
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Monica Vitti
as Valentina Gherardini
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Bernhard Wicki
as Tommaso
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Maria Pia Luzi
as Patient
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Rosy Mazzacurati
as Resy
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Vincenzo Corbella
as Gherardina
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Ugo Fortunati
as Cesarino
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Gitt Magrini
as Signora Gheradina
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Guido A. Marsan
as Fanti
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Giorgio Negro
as Roberto
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Roberta Speroni
as Beatrice