Le Notti Bianche (2018)

In some ways, "Le Notti Bianche" is a strange film for me. On one hand, it has some of the best cinematography you'll ever see in a black & white film. The composition, the lighting, the mist--it all is so perfect. Yet, on the other hand, the story itself is so slight that I felt very unfulfilled at its conclusion.The film begins with a lonely man wandering about the waterfront late at night. Although you'd think a guy that looks like Marcello Mastroianni would not have trouble finding a relationship, but in this film he is quite alone. By chance, he meets a very strange woman (Maria Schell). She is VERY shy--and behaves a bit oddly. However, despite this, he vows to stop by the same place they met and see her, if she wants, the following night. From this very inauspicious beginning, two lonely people meet and form a friendship....and perhaps more. Eventually, you understand some of her weird behaviors--she's actually waiting for another man (Jean Marais)--a man who you assume will never come.There really is NOT a lot more to the film than my description. It isn't a bad film but I wanted more. I liked Mastroianni's character (though he was a sad fellow) but found Schell's perplexing and hard to believe. I also thought their relationship a bit hard to believe as well--going from total strangers to talking about marriage WAY too fast. In fact, the story itself was only okay--but the film earns a 7 simply for its look. Not a particularly enjoyable or engaging film for me--and it receives a very, very mild recommendation from me.

Luchino Visconti directs "White Nights". The film is based on "White Nights", a short story by literature's glowering giant, Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky's story was also turned into "Four Nights of a Dreamer", a somewhat great film by Robert Bresson, and "Two Lovers", a moody film by James Gray.Filmed after the flowery, forbidden romance of "Senso", Visconti's "White Nights" was described by the director as a work of "neo-romanticism", a merger of conventional "romance" with French poetic realism.The plot revolves around young Mario, a Italian loner who's likened to street urchins and stray dogs. Keeping Mario from outright self-destruction are his fiery fantasies, particularly his obsession with young Natalia, whom he meets on a canal bridge and begins to bond. The film observes as the duo go on a series of dates, but their romance is doomed from the start. Natalia is awaiting the return of an ex lover, a longing-from-afar which Mario shares, both characters freezing the present in the hopes of some idealised future which seems unwilling to materialise.A committed Marxist, Visconti also focuses heavily on class barriers. Natalia's bourgeois, Mario a lowly clerk, class and romantic aspirations entwined. With notions as to what is "romantic" and "sexy" always changing, younger audiences will no doubt find Mario and Natalia's courtship rituals quaint. But superb black-and-white photography by Giuseppe Rotunno, lovely artificial sets, painted skies, evocative locales and puddles of murky light and shadow - all of which amplify the two lovers' longings and self-delusions - lend the film a certain aesthetic punch.7.9/10 – See Antonioni's "Beyond the Clouds" and "Identification of a Woman". Worth one viewing.

I had a great deal of pleasure in watching this film; early-period Visconti is very satisfying for me, ever since watching The Earth Trembles at a university film club back in the 1970's, followed by Rocco and His Brothers and Sandra. I don't care if Saint Petersburg doesn't look like a set at Cinecitta, or that Jean Marais's voice is dubbed, or that Maria Schell had to learn Italian very quickly in order to play Natalia and her accent is suspect (she's referred to as a "foreigner"). I don't care that Clara Calamai's (uninteresting) part is added to the story, probably so Visconti could repay a favour to one of his leading ladies. I don't worry about any of these things because a master film director is making a picture that he cares about, and his passion is shared by me, the viewer.Maria Schell, who made so many memorable films in the Fifties--Gervaise for Rene Clement and The Brothers Karamazov for Richard Brooks come to mind--is terrific as the lovelorn girl. Mastroianni is a real revelation: no world-weary sybarite as he was for Fellini, but a white-collar worker with limited prospects who is capable of sudden passion for the girl. It's a treat to see him gyrating in the cafe to Bill Haley's Thirteen Women.

Masterly directed by Luchino Visconti this film should be watched by everyone. Le Notti Bianche di Luchino Visconti (White Nights) is an extraordinary contribution to cinematic history. A film you never forget. A mixture of romance, surrealism and madness. Really good movies are so rare that they're worth watching several times. Young actors should watch and study this film. Young directors should discover what film making is. Maria Schell quite simply, wonderful. Marcello Mastroianni is as always exceptionally brilliant. Nino Rota's music capable of conveying a mood and atmosphere. Notice how movies now a day sucks? Is anyone out there who still understand what a good movie is? If so, watch White Nights, a masterpiece.