La Notte (1961)
"La notte" (original title)

A day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship.

Director:

Michelangelo Antonioni

Writers:

Michelangelo Antonioni (story), Ennio Flaiano (story),

Stars:

Marcello Mastroianni, Jeanne Moreau, Monica Vitti

6 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Marcello Mastroianni	...	Giovanni Pontano
Jeanne Moreau	...	Lidia
Monica Vitti	...	Valentina Gherardini
Bernhard Wicki	...	Tommaso Garani
Rosy Mazzacurati	...	Rosy
Maria Pia Luzi	...	Un'invitata
Guido A. Marsan	...	Fanti (as Guido Ajmone Marsan)
Vittorio Bertolini
Vincenzo Corbella	...	Mr. Gherardini
Ugo Fortunati	...	Cesarino
Gitt Magrini	...	Signora Gherardini
Giorgio Negro	...	Roberto
Roberta Speroni	...	Beatrice (as Roberta Speroni Fortunati)
Odile Jean

Storyline

In Milan, after visiting dear friend Tommaso Garani that is terminal in a hospital, the writer Giovanni Pontano goes to a party for the release of his last book, and his wife Lydia Pontano visits the place where she lived many years ago. In the night, they go to a night-club, and later to a party in the mansion of the tycoon Mr. Gherardini. Along the night, Giovanni flirts with Valentina Gherardini, the daughter of the host, and then he receives a proposal to work for him in the area of communication and write the history of his company. Meanwhile, Lydia flirts with the playboy Roberto.

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Plot Keywords:

party | hospital | writer | rocket | socialite party | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

19 February 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

La Notte

Filming Locations:

Milan, Lombardia, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nepi Film, Silver Films, Sofitedip

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Second part of the unofficial "Incomunicabiliy Trilogy" also including L'avventura and L'eclisse.

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Quotes

Giovanni: Who wrote that?
Lidia: You did.

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Connections

Referenced in Toh sik (2004)

User Reviews

cold, harsh, dark, - and that's just the drinks

This is a hard film to sit through. Which is not to say it isn't worthwhile, or good, or even a masterpiece, but that the state of mind of the characters involved is hard to cope with - they are depressed, aimless, drifting, unable to make any emotional commitment in an atomised, alienating landscape that is, in the words of Henri Lefebvre, full of signs but absolutely no symbols. The symbols have been all used up, exhausted, just as the couple's love has been all used up. The truth of this film resides for me in its final scene when Moreau (Lidia) reads the old love letter out to Giovanni as a cold morning mist snakes around the golf course. It talks about waking up next to her and possessing her so completely that she is no longer herself, but part of him; utterly owned, 'an image I want to keep forever.' But now the image is tarnished, forgotten, and the woman is alone, abandoned -free of her cage, but utterly lost in the dark mean streets of modernity.