Le Notti Bianche

Le Notti Bianche is an absolute feast for the eyes. The shot composure is incredible and the cinematography is very sophisticated. Black and white films rarely, if ever, look better than this one does. The story is inspired, given the fact it initially seems like it wouldn't be. All of the characters are interesting and, for the most part, are acted well. The lead actress can grate on you, but if you accept it as the way she's written, it's just fine. Definitely check this one out.

A hopelessly romantic film, and quite a beautiful one. Marcello Mastroianni is wonderful, but I didn't much care for Maria Schell's naive character. Even so, the movie still has a strong emotional pull. It also boasts some gorgeous photography and lavish art decoration, which are enough to make it worth watching.

It's a lovely, dramatic bit of romance. Visconti isn't afraid to his characters' flaws shine through: Natalia is a bit flighty and Mario is a schemer. But we end up liking them anyway. The film, taking place almost entirely as night time, sports some beautifully lit scenes, in the gorgeous sets of city streets. The nightclub/cafe scene was especially memorable. Not as moving or charming as I Fidanzati, but a nice piece of work.

An excellent romance with a dreamlike quality that's beautiful to behold. The way it constantly balances the love lost and love gained aspects of the story so well is something so few romantic movies manage to do. I thought all the performances were wonderful, the character quirks are integral to the story's core. It's got plenty of great scenes, but the nightclub scene and the ending were magnificently effective. That it's also excellently shot should come as no surprise.

The flashback sequence is hampered by the woman's obnoxious and infantile behavior (for that matter, so is all the stuff in the present, just to a far lesser extent) and her ridiculous, doe-eyed puppy love, but Mastroianni and Visconti shine; the former with a great performance, the latter with beautiful, artificially stylized black-and-white cinematography and flawless compositions. A transcendentally beautiful romance.

É um filme visualmente brilhante, mas aquela protagonista me dá nos nervos.

This is one of those few films, like Letter From an Unknown Woman, where the mesmerizing beauty of it's cinematography (both b/w of course) engrosses me so much that it's almost my sole reason for loving the film. Almost, that is. Marcello Mastroianni and his infinite coolness is always a good reason for loving a film.

i really liked its evocation of the night, with its fog, silhouettes and shadowy characters. the ending is also great. but as is the case with most romantic melodramas, the central story is rather on the silly side: a girl tortuously waits an entire year for the man she hugged for the first time ever the night before he left. puhleez. it's not particularly unique either. but it's still good largely because of atmosphere and cinematography. 900th rating.

It's a great film all around, but it's the visuals that make this incredible.

Beautiful. Beautifully shot, beautifully simple. The entire film was a joy to watch, and I didn't mind much that the outcome is thoroughly predictable.

In some aspects surprisingly similar to Four Nights of a Dreamer, but it's the crucial differences that if anything amplify what makes Bresson's film so great.

The greatness of the novella lies in the way it challenges the reader to interpret the tension of the situation, and where this always threatens to be dissipated by a reading that does not do justice to the delicacy and intensity of its final moments, for example by turning the story too quickly into a romance. Visconti knows this, but the more conventional aspects of the film perhaps make it too easy for audiences to lose sight of the questions. It's the dance scene that makes the difference.

What a fucking strange film.

89.00

Impossibly beautiful B&W cinematography. I only dock it points because I don't fully buy Mastroianni as the doting type. But it's fairly masterful otherwise as an examination of time and its relationship to love. Consider me a sucker for navel-gazing.

Althought the phtography is incredible, the relationship annoyed me a lot.

I think this film is genius in a way I can barely comprehend. I am incredible similar to Marcello Mastroianni's character (only difference is he's more cut than me) which made watching this film extremely difficult. It's a film about love and hope and the extent to which we'll let the possibility of "true love" guide our life choices. The dance scene and the final moments in the snow are absolutely majestic.

The snow scenes are delightful.

Aesthetically pleasing, yet quite simple. Mastroianni is great and there were couple of fantastic scenes, as well.

where is the dreamer of Dostoyevsky? + some unnecessarily added scenes and characters

The woman's character is a bit over the top in her naivete, but Mastroianni is fantastic as her counterpart. But the real star here is Visconti, whose constantly moving camera adds a lyricism to the proceedings that really elevates this film.

Beautifully filmed and produced romance is a captivating delight. Visconti's staggering directorial skills are at full force here; countless textbook examples of staging, with a close focus on background activities capturing the feel of a real, bustling world. Mastroianni is a little bland and one-note (and hampered by the limitations of his passive character) but Schell is positively luminous, recalling Ingrid Bergman at her most charming. Wonderful night club interlude a definite highlight.

Not among Visconti's very best, but still as great an adaptation of Dostoyevski as one might hope for. White Nights bears an interesting similarity to Fellini's release of the same year, Nights of Cabiria, in that both are set in several consecutive nights. It's amazing how the main characters are at once likable and upsetting.

A humble clerk "courts" a woman is pretty misleading. The dude stalks her until she decides(is forced into) to be friends with him because he won't leave her alone. Was this the point of the movie? If it was it got lost on a lot of people because reading reviews calling this romantic wtf. No wonder she goes for her lost lover in the end. Some decent photography tho. Maybe I gotta read the Dostoevsky first.

I was surprised to see that this was actually a very funny film. The "13 Women and Just One Man in Town" dance sequence is hilarious, and perfectly timed. Mastroianni is superb, careening from wonderment and exasperation to despair. The melodrama sits uneasily with the comedy though. Natalia is such a dolt that it's difficult to see Mario's pain outside the comedic view. Also, the CineCitta sets are fantastic --highly unreal, adding to the fairytale feel.