avik-basu1889 Adapted from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's original novel, Luchino Visconti's film 'Le Notti Bianche' has a weirdly poetic tone to it. Having seen 'Ossessione', 'La Terra Trema' and 'Bellissima' prior to this, this is the first of his films that I have seen which is completely disconnected from Italian Neorealism, although he did venture outside the boundaries of neorealism in 'Senso' already but I haven't seen it yet. Nino Rota's beautifully haunting score complements the tone for the film. The cinematography is almost noir-ish with the shadows and the black patches are prominently darkened. The timeline is not specified which adds to the poetry of the tone. Visconti uses symbolism, metaphors and dramatic Hollywood-esque romantic storytelling. The film works very well for the most part, but I found the screenplay to be a bit uneven during the 2nd half of the film. There are a few scenes that are a bit clumsily strung together and it somewhat dragged the film down in my eyes. Marcello Mastroianni is great as the dreamy and introverted Mario. Maria Schell is a little exaggerated with her expressions, but it works with the tone set by Visconti for the film.Out of the Visconti films that I have seen, 'Le Notti Bianche' is probably my 3rd favourite. I didn't like it anywhere near as much as 'Ossessione' or 'La Terra Trema'. However the visual artistry on show in 'Le Notti Bianche' is undeniable and even though the 2nd half is plagued by a bit of unevenness in the screenplay, the film still deserves a recommendation.

MartinHafer 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.

Bob Taylor 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.

Polaris_DiB You know, I'm really surprised that I didn't like this movie. It's major theme about the difference in reality and fantasy, along with its stunningly beautiful black and white cinematography, is precisely the sort of thing I look for in film. And yet, I didn't ultimately find it very enjoyable.It's a very smart and well-written movie. The ways in which the character's aspirations and yearning mix with the reality of the situation is very precise and real, speaking both to the original writer of the short story, Dostoyevsky (whose writing resembles the quiet brooding of the male protagonist in many ways) and Visconti's own skill with directing and camera work. In fact, the very self-aware staging of the movie is what makes it easily a majestic cinematic experience, one that really shouldn't be missed. This movie could be watched and easily stay interesting just paying attention to the lighting of the shots and the composition of the frames.Indeed, for a film surrounded in all sorts of romance and yearning, it's very detached, often, from the characters. Close-ups are almost nonexistent and for the most part the camera seems most happy to stay far away, with faces barely recognizable within the mist.It's everything a film goer would love, which is why I find it odd that I didn't much care for the characters. The male protagonist I can understand, and even sympathize with, even as far as his attraction to the female. She, however, is too out of it, completely unreal, almost an idealized notion of something everybody's ideal would be to avoid. In short, I couldn't stand her, or watching her, or anything she did.There were two very strong moments in the film that, for me, made it worth the time spending to see. The first is the dancing scene, where Marcello Mastrianni lets go and changes from the shy but humble courter to one of those virile, energetic youngsters, showing off and mugging. The other is the very end... of which I won't describe for spoiler purposes, but which ultimately makes Mastrianni's character someone we can all relate to.Thus, I can honestly say that this film is magnificent, and that many people should go out and watch it. It's beautiful, contains strong acting and directing, has some very poignant scenes, and has a remarkable control over mise-en-scene. I just really don't like it.--PolarisDiB