La Notte

"…evidence of [Antonioni's] stunning mastery is available throughout." -Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Marcello Mastroianni (La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2) and Jeanne Moreau (Jules and Jim, The Bride Wore Black) are affluent but emotionally estranged spouses in Michelangelo Antonioni's 1961 post-neorealist classic La Notte. After ten years of marriage, Giovanni, a successful novelist, and his wife Lidia have grown apart. He is no longer attracted to her, and she finds him boring and self-absorbed. During the course of a single day, they are faced with heartache, desperation and personal loss. When the night comes, both are tempted by thoughts of infidelity but ultimately return to each another. Unable to come to terms with their emotions, they are left to ponder the fate of their marriage, and unstable union destroyed by indifference of habit and impenetrable loneliness.