Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

PimpinAinttEasy I am not a big fan of films that have a play like quality about them. White Nights is one of those movies that are excessively talky like a movie based on a Tennessee Williams play. The sets and cinematography are almost Noirish especially during the initial scenes when the lonely hero (Mastroanini) walks around the dirty city. But once the heroine makes an entry, the sets have a dreamlike quality about them.The film is a love quadrangle where all the characters, except for the melancholic lonely hero are pretty manipulative. Both the female characters were extremely insidious. The scene where the elderly lady (prostitute?) cries to everyone on the street that Mastroanini has ditched her and he gets beaten up was pretty funny.The film takes a very cynical view of human relations, especially the romantic ones. The final scene where Mastroanini walks away with a dog after being cruelly ditched, underlined the director's cynicism. I have not read the novel by Dostoevsky.The long and pulsating dance sequence was great but I felt like it did not belong in the movie.(7/10)

evening1 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!

Lee Eisenberg Luchino Visconti's adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's classic novel fits in perfectly with post-WWII Italy. Marcello Mastroianni and Maria Schell play people from dissimilar backgrounds who meet one night in an Italian town and strike up a relationship.An important aspect is their backgrounds. He has moved in from out of town, but has quickly gotten to know part of the town. While she has lived in the town her whole life, her grandmother has kept her close and never allowed her to see the other side of the town; she earlier struck up a relationship with another man (Jean Marais), but he left and she doesn't know whether or not he'll return. So then, Marcello Mastroianni and Maria Schell meet on the bridge (the link not only between the two sides of the town, but between the characters' different worlds).Another representation of contrasts between the separate worlds is shown by the different types of music. In one scene, Maria Schell and her grandmother go to see "Barber of Seville", one of the all-time classic operas. In the restaurant scene, someone plays a Bill Haley song, emblematic of modern music. Luchino Visconti was no fan of rock and roll, but probably felt that it would make for an evocative scene in this case.But anyway, "Le notti bianche" (or "White Nights") remains an important part of Italy's cinematic history. I hope to see more of Visconti's movie's in the future.

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