Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Reviews
Product Description
One of the masterworks of 1960s cinema, La notte (The Night) marked yet another development in the continuous stylistic evolution of its director, Michelangelo Antonioni even as it solidified his reputation as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. La notte is Antonioni's 'Twilight of the Gods' but composed in cinematic terms. Examined from a crane-shot, it's a sprawling study of Italy's upper middle-class; seen in close-up, it's an x-ray of modern man's psychic desolation. Two of the giants of film-acting come together as a married couple living in crisis: Marcello Mastroianni (La dolce vita, 8 1/2) and Jeanne Moreau (Jules et Jim, Bay of Angels). He is a renowned author and 'public intellectual'; she is 'the wife.' Over the course of one day and the night into which it inevitably bleeds, the pair will come to re-examine their emotional bonds, and grapple with the question of whether love and communication are even possible in a world built out of profligate idylls and sexual hysteria. Photographed in rapturous black-and-white by the great Gianni di Venanzo (8 1/2, Giulietta degli spiriti), La notte presents the beauty of seduction, then asks:'When did this occur this seduction of Beauty?' The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Michelangelo Antonioni's haunted odyssey in a new digital restoration, uncut for the first time ever on home video. SPECIAL FEATURES: New restoration of the film in its original 1.75:1 aspect ratio with previously-censored sequences restored for the first time - New and improved English subtitles - Original Italian theatrical trailer - Includes a 40-page booklet with a new essay by film-critic and scholar Brad Stevens, and the transcript of a lengthy Q&A conducted in 1961 with Antonioni upon the film's release.
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: Italian ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.66:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Black & White, Booklet, Interactive Menu, Remastered, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: 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. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Berlin International Film Festival, David Donatello Awards, ...The Night (1961) ( La Notte ) ( La Nuit )
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Second in Antonioni's trilogy of black and white films. This one depicts a married couple Moreau and Mastrianni who cannot communicate, although they cannot separate too. He is a writer, an intellectual, who is exhausted with his life and his writing. When he says to his wife an ill women in hospital kissed him, she merely says he can use it in a novel. We spend a whole day and night in the company of this couple, alone or apart. The film is about alienation and uncertainty. As Valentinna(Vitti) says," When I try to communicate, love goes". Antonioni uses the dynamics of architecture, its verticals, horizontals and diagonals to show the backdrop to a world in transition between the old and new. He shows elements too of the modern world,helicopters, rockets, book openings, house parties. Lidia( Moreau) goes on solitary walks around the streets, talking to a distressed young girl, stopping street fights,looking at young men setting off rockets in a field. Through her reactions we get some sense of her personality. As a couple they turn up at book signings and parties or watch performers dance as if they are onlookers to their own lives. They have no language for their inner lives. They make gestures that go nowhere. They drift in a somnambulistic state. Giovanni attracts a wealthy businessman with his talents but feels he is selling out. His wife has her own source of wealth and is indifferent to his ability. Their relationship is captured by an image of a cat looking at a statue.How can they express their love or lack of it. Lidia is aware of how her husband used to feel. She reminds him by reading one of his letters to her on a golf course next morning. He smothers the truth by groping her in desperation and attempting to make love to her. The film literally ends up with them holed in a bunker.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I must say this is a beautiful black and white film. Antonioni made several films in this era which are among the best films ever made. The black and White night photography here is marvellous. I have a criticism of the DVD though: the subtitles switch to the top of the screen a couple of times, which makes it harder to read and watch the film at these points. This doesn't happen often though. Also the booklet is thick but so far I can't find out who the saxophone player at the party was. Otherwise a fine print of a wonderful film.
16 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
How simple and truthful Antonioni managed to tell about a souring marriage relationship. How love was once and becomes after, yet still indispensable... So realistic, so direct that it hurts sometimes. Yet, an experience that must be faced. And of course Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau... Just watching their floating throughout the film, their faces, moves... Fascinating...Especialy from Antonioni's perspective with great camera angles.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not a review - but a point of information
Sorry I can't rate this film as I haven't seen it but if reviewer Mr Dixon cares to look up the film at www.imdb. Read more
Published 21 months ago by M. Borley
La Notte
Nice film and a really nice transfer. Though it would have been nice to have a commentary or more extras (as Criterions Antonioni-DVDs. Read more
Published on 26 Jun 2008 by MarkusG
Not the Best of Antonioni's Trilogy about loneliness
When I say "about loneliness" what I mean is that our western civilization has imposed individualism over solidariry. Read more
Published on 15 May 2008 by Jazzisticus
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
