Le Notti Bianche (2018)

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Good concept, poorly executed.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I watched the film many times and thought that the film has been shot at Venezia. Now I'm wathching the film again and saw some street names, like these : Scali delle pietre, Scali del Pesce etc. I began to search these names and found that the film location is not Venezia,but it is Livorno.If you pay attention the street names or place in the film, you could find same location in Livorno. There is very little changes after 60 years.

This movie has Mario (Marcello Mastroianni) by chance meeting Natalia (Maria Schell) on a bridge one night. Mario is shy and lonely and is moved to try to comfort the sobbing Natalia. Natalia is waiting for L'inquilino, a lover who has been away for a year and has promised to return. L'inquilino is later seen to be tall and handsome and a man of few words. I could not see L'inquilino falling for the flighty Natalia, who is literally often tethered to her grandmother. I suppose there are people like Natalia who live in a state of yearning for a man whom she has hardly known. Such a person must be more in love with an imagined fantasy than with an actual person. Natalia might appeal to a younger, romantically idealistic audience, but an older audience will likely not have much patience with her.The relationship between Natalia and Mario was more acceptable to me, both being driven by a deep seated insecurity and loneliness. Since the relationships all developed in such a short time the characters seemed to be more symbolic than real to me, with Mario representing realty and Natalia fantasy. Mario lives on one side of the bridge and Natalia the other, Mario is a realist and Natalia a fantasist, and so forth.The production is little more than a filmed stage play, complete with fake snow. Most of the movie is talk with there being little action. A break was provided by an extended scene in a bar that has a well choreographed dance group dancing to a Bill Haley record. As enjoyable as that scene was, given the amount of time devoted to it I had to believe that it was supposed to be pivotal, but I failed to see that level of importance.The black and white photography is impressive with effective camera angles and movements. Much of the movie is filmed at night, often creating a dream like atmosphere for the dream like story.Nino Rota's score is a big disappointment, it is representative of the generic scores for Hollywood movies of the 1950s, rather than the creative work he is known for.This character study never engaged me enough to feel invested at the emotional level that I think was intended.

An exquisitely told story of the "silhouette" nature of love -- I love you, and you're drawn to someone else.Director Lucchino Visconti has assembled a perfect cast for this Livorno, Italy-set version of the Dostoyefsky short story: Marcello Mastroianni as a lonely clerk, Maria Schell as the innocent homebody he falls for, and Jean Marais as the unnamed tenant with whom Natalia falls in love.The story is set in a magical-looking streetscape of dusky bars, lazy canals, and quaint little bridges. We share the perspective of the ready-for-love Mario as he roams the town, eager to connect. Anyone can follow a streetwalker but Mario is looking for something deep and authentic. Mastroianni is perfect in the role of a simple man on a heartfelt quest.Ms. Schell could not be more believable as a young woman so sheltered that her blind grandmother would keep their skirts pinned together. Natalia fell in love at first sight with the studly tenant, unwavering in her devotion -- despite the fact that he confides he must go away for a year -- no explanation possible. (My own theory is that he is serving a jail sentence. Yet Natalia is ready to wait, no questions asked.) What woman can't identify with this sort of hypomanic infatuation? What man or woman can't also empathize with Mario, who appreciates Natalia with every cell in his body, yet must accept she'll never return his ardor? Visconti expertly captures these poignancies."God bless you for the moment of happiness you gave me," Mario tells Natalia in the end, in an amazing bit of out-of-the-box thinking.We can't all win at love in every attempt at finding it. But we can be grateful for the richness of our experience along the way!

Most interesting movies come from short stories, as Luchino Visconti clearly demonstrates with his "Le Notti Bianchi". based on a tale by Dostoyevsky. The Russian atmosphere is cleverly transported to an Italian town in winter. The film is enhanced by Giuseppe Rotunno brilliant camera work in a movie that was shot entirely in a studio. In fact, the director salutes Cinecitta in the credits because he must have been completely amazed by the look of the end product.The story deals with fantasy and reality. One night Mario, a young man, returns to town in a bus. He notices a distressed and beautiful woman who appears to be in the process of committing suicide by jumping from a bridge. Natalia, the young woman is living in despair because a man who conquered her heart has gone away with the promise he will be back in a year's time. Natalia, who at first doesn't respond to Mario, finds in him a kind soul, but her heart belongs to the man she waits for.Marcello Mastroianni's Mario is fine. He was at one of the most interesting periods of his career when he worked in the picture. The best thing in the movie has to be the scene at the night club where he is trying to get Natalie to dance with him. He makes quite a spectacle of himself dancing to Bill Bailey and the Comets by himself while the other dancing couples admire him.Maria Schell, coming from another school of acting, seems lost at times, as though overwhelmed by the Italian cast around her. Her Natalia has equal parts of sadness and innocence. Jean Marais, one of the best French actors of his generation is seen as the tenant who steals Natalia's heart. Clara Calamai, who had worked in "Ossessione" with Visconti has some excellent moments as a prostitute.Nino Rota's atmospheric music blends well with the context of the film. Ultimately the success of "Le Notti Bianche" belongs to Luchino Visconti who saw greatness in the text by Dostoyevsky.