Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni in 1961, La Notte follows a wealthy married couple, wife Lidia (Jeanne Moreau) and her husband, an author named Giovanni (Marcello Mastroianni), as they travel around their home city of Milan. Early in the film, they leave a hospital where they've just spent some time with a terminally ill friend named Tommaso Garani (Bernhard Wicki) who is undergoing treatment for cancer. As they put that behind them and go about their business the distance that has obviously replaced what we understand was once warmth between this couple starts to become painfully obvious. Although they are comfortable enough going through the motions, they seem to have fallen out of love.

But again, they will go through the motions, which is exactly what they do when Lidia insists that they attend a lavish party. Giovanni is approached by a few of the attendees, obviously interested in meeting him because of his status as a writer, while Lidia can only watch, again from a distance. Giovanni is clearly enjoying at least part of this, while Lidia can't hide the fact that she most certainly is not. And so they leave the crowded event and head back out only to arrive at another gathering, this time an even larger event hosted by a wealthy man, a book publisher named Gerardini (Vincenzo Corbella), at his extravagant estate in the suburbs. This time around, neither of them do a very good job of pretending to enjoy themselves, that is until Giovanni meets a beautiful young woman named Valentina (Monica Vitti), Gerardini's lovely daughter. He seems instantly intrigued, obsessed even, and Lidia responds in kind by flirting with a handsome man named Roberto (Giorno Negro).

That's about it as far as the storyline goes. This is not a particularly complex film, at least not in terms of its narrative, though it is rich with allegory and symbolism. The most obvious example is the way in which Antonioni uses both architecture and trees to represent the distance that exists and then, over only a few short hours, grows exponentially between Lydia and Giovanni. As it is with these structures that film shows us, so too is it with our central characters: they can't really get closer to one another. They are, in some ways, just as immovable as the buildings that they wander past and which Antonioni uses as visual framing devices to better communicate the tragedy and inevitability of their situation.

Interestingly enough, the deterioration of the marriage that makes up the central storyline unfolds without any drama. You won't see characters yelling at one another or throwing things in a fit of emotionally fueled rage. Rather, the harm is done through intentional ignorance. As our couple hits the two parties that make up much of the film's running time we see them interact with others in ways that are obviously detrimental and which obviously hurt the other partner, but we see them do so without worry or conscience. It's in this way that they make their digs at one another, so far gone are they that the disconnect would seem irreparable.

A visually stunning film, La Notte can be seen as an exercise in style over substance. You could argue that there's no story here and that because the characters are played so lifelessly that there is nothing to latch on to, no reason to care about the relationship we never see in full bloom dying before our eyes. Depending on your own personal experience, there's possibly quite a bit of truth to that, however, for anyone who has been involved in a similar situation and invested of themselves in a relationship, be it a marriage or otherwise, that has died from neglect, it's a poignant picture. Images often mean more than words do in the film and Antonioni does dabble in the pretentious by removing the acting from anything even remotely emotional that the picture does become a bit of a challenge. On top of that, at over two hours it's a bit longer than it needs to be, with plenty of drawn out camera movements and shots that serve simply to repeat what has already been said earlier in the movie. For these reasons, the movie does have some flaws in both narrative and in structure, but the artistry and skillful technique on display in La Notte more than makes up for that.

Video:

Criterion presents La Notte in AVC encoded 1080p high definition framed in its original aspect ratio of 1.85.1 widescreen. This is quite a handsome transfer, as the black and white image shows perfect contrast and loads of detail in both the foreground and the background of the image. Blacks are nice and deep throughout the duration of the film and there really isn't any legitimate print damage to complain about, the picture is very crisp and very clean. At the same time, the image remains film-like throughout, so there are no issues with noise reduction or edge enhancement to note. Shadow detail is superb and texture impresses throughout. Grain is evident throughout, as it should be, but it never overpowers or distracts. A great transfer overall, one that does justice to the film's striking visual style.