Review of La Notte (1961) by Sherwin L — 06 Dec 2013

The shadows of structures linger much after the characters have left and so does the images of La Notte and you realise why Antonioni reminds so much of Ozu. Each scene has a prologue and epilogue, and as much time that he gives to rub your eyes, Antonioni probably knows that even his mis en scenes are captivating.

The movie flows, drifts almost, flawlessly, seamlessly not much unlike a unmanned boat on the high waters and yet there is structure if you see closely, there's a narrative even, if you mull over it.

Mastrioanni did great work with De Sica, but Antonioni used him like Kazan used Brando and those two to my mind would probably top the list of angst-ridden characters where there's no 'good riddance', not even from themselves.