Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

tieman64 Luchino Visconti directs "White Nights". The film is based on "White Nights", a short story by literature's glowering giant, Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky's story was also turned into "Four Nights of a Dreamer", a somewhat great film by Robert Bresson, and "Two Lovers", a moody film by James Gray.Filmed after the flowery, forbidden romance of "Senso", Visconti's "White Nights" was described by the director as a work of "neo-romanticism", a merger of conventional "romance" with French poetic realism.The plot revolves around young Mario, a Italian loner who's likened to street urchins and stray dogs. Keeping Mario from outright self-destruction are his fiery fantasies, particularly his obsession with young Natalia, whom he meets on a canal bridge and begins to bond. The film observes as the duo go on a series of dates, but their romance is doomed from the start. Natalia is awaiting the return of an ex lover, a longing-from-afar which Mario shares, both characters freezing the present in the hopes of some idealised future which seems unwilling to materialise.A committed Marxist, Visconti also focuses heavily on class barriers. Natalia's bourgeois, Mario a lowly clerk, class and romantic aspirations entwined. With notions as to what is "romantic" and "sexy" always changing, younger audiences will no doubt find Mario and Natalia's courtship rituals quaint. But superb black-and-white photography by Giuseppe Rotunno, lovely artificial sets, painted skies, evocative locales and puddles of murky light and shadow - all of which amplify the two lovers' longings and self-delusions - lend the film a certain aesthetic punch.7.9/10 – See Antonioni's "Beyond the Clouds" and "Identification of a Woman". Worth one viewing.

albertoveronese Masterly directed by Luchino Visconti this film should be watched by everyone. Le Notti Bianche di Luchino Visconti (White Nights) is an extraordinary contribution to cinematic history. A film you never forget. A mixture of romance, surrealism and madness. Really good movies are so rare that they're worth watching several times. Young actors should watch and study this film. Young directors should discover what film making is. Maria Schell quite simply, wonderful. Marcello Mastroianni is as always exceptionally brilliant. Nino Rota's music capable of conveying a mood and atmosphere. Notice how movies now a day sucks? Is anyone out there who still understand what a good movie is? If so, watch White Nights, a masterpiece.

jotix100 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.

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