Le notti bianche (1957)

Director:

Luchino Visconti

Writers:

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (novel)
Suso Cecchi d'Amico (story) ...

Release Date:

28 May 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A humble clerk courts a woman who night after night awaits for the return of her lover.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Dance | Snow | Prostitution | Modern Day Adaptation

Awards:

6 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Maria Schell	...	Natalia
Marcello Mastroianni	...	Mario
Jean Marais	...	Tenant
Marcella Rovena	...	Landlady
Maria Zanoli	...	Maid (as Maria Zanolli)
Elena Fancera	...	cashier
Lanfranco Ceccarelli
Angelo Galassi
Renato Terra
Corrado Pani
Dirk Sanders	...	Dancer
Clara Calamai	...	Prostitute
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Giorgio Albertazzi	...	Narrator (voice)
Lys Assia	...	Singer - Scusami
Romano Barbieri	...	Son
Alberto Carloni	...	Innkeeper
Pietro Ceccarelli
Anna Filippini	...	Daughter
Carla Foscari
Ferdinando Gerra	...	Father
Giorgio Listuzzi	...	Police Man
Leonilde Montesi	...	Mother
Sandro Moretti	...	Young Man
Winni Riva
Sandra Verani

Also Known As:

Nuits blanches (France)
White Nights

Runtime:

Germany:97 min | Italy:107 min | USA:97 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:6 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Rank Film

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Zwischen Kino und Konzert - Der Komponist Nino Rota (1993)

Soundtrack:

O' Cangaceiro

Film that tries to reflect reality as well as a dream that falls a bit short

Luchino Visconti has created a film that tried to reflect reality as well as a dream. The premise is something right out of a dream, two people meet by chance on a bridge and then the man proceeds to try and court the women. In the beginning the film is set up with the man is a realist and the women is a dreamer. While this premise is quite interesting and has much potential it does fall short on the execution. This is mainly caused by huge tonal shifts that occur during the film. The story goes between reality and dream so suddenly and drastically that it becomes distracting. Many times it has aspects of dream and reality in the same scene and characters cycle through the dream vs reality banter many times. The narrative is consistently too melodramatic with characters overacting to situations. This becomes all the more distracting when the aesthetic of the film is both dream like and realistic. Le Notti Bianche has grand sets made replicating a whole section of a city that feels real. At the same time there is a background with clouds that never move and a full moon that never changes. While the film often has a hazy and washed out feeling it often will have a straight forward typical shot reverse shot or tracking shot as well. It just feels like an opportunity that was missed with an interesting premise with a clash between reality and dream that the narrative has problems synchronizing with the aesthetic. As always Marcello Mastroianni gives a wonderful and charismatic performance. Maria Schell as well shines in the film which is no easy task with such a one dimensional character but she makes it work and gives those looks into the camera that stops you in your tracks. Perhaps if you are more of a romantic you might be able to forgive some of the short comings a bit more since there are good performances and visuals in the film.