Saturday, June 23, 2012

La Notte (1961)


Director: Michelangelo Antonioni

 This feels like an average offering from Antonioni, but even average from him is way beyond so much else. The story is simple and the theme's aren't groundbreaking in any way, but filmmaking and Antonioni's direction is what makes the film as effective as it is. The movie follows an upper class couple around whose marriage is clearly on the rocks. Antonioni has such patience with the two leads and really allows them to find honest moments that speak volumes about where their characters are. The slow pacing can be a little too wandering at times, but the patience is highly respectable.

The story is about the illusion of love in the lives of the rich and comfortable, and how their dissatisfaction is most realized in their love lives. This theme is realized with just one this one couple, so it's a small movie, but like I said, it has some very effective, genuine moments. It's also a very modern movie, especially in regards to the incredibly high divorce rate in the Western world and in the world of the rich. Despite the fact the movie is from the early 1960's, it could have been about people who are living in 2012.

Grade: B+

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