Le Notti Bianche (1957)

Le Notti Bianche, which translates into English as "sleepless nights," is an exquisite little movie from Luchino Visconti about two lonely people who meet, who dance the dance and part again in a strange city. I'm not an expert on Visconti's work, but I do know a good film when I see one, and this is one of my favs. Mario (Marcello Mastroianni) is new in town. He's come here for work, has no family in town, and no friends outside of work. He lives by himself in one room of a boarding house and spends his nights walking the streets, watching other people interacting with their friends and family. One night, he sees a young girl standing on a bridge, weeping. Mario approaches her, is smitten by her, introduces himself, and starts trying to court her. Natalia (Maria Schell) isn't interested in being courted though. She's in love with a man who used to rent the attic room in the building where she lives. He went away a year ago, but he promised to return. So Natalia waits for him every night on the bridge. But Mario is desperate, and he's sure he can steal Natalia from the past. So he amuses her. He distracts her. He tries to get her to fall in love with him. They go dancing. The dance turns into a wild, sexual act. Many have compared it to the party scene in Fellini's La Dolce Vita. Visconti places the dance in a public space though, and it ends in a brawl outside. In the end, Mario loses, and Natalia's love returns. Mario stands alone, and as the snow begins to fall, so do his tears.

Le Notti Bianche is a slow and deliberate movie. Those who are accustomed to faced-paced movies, full of snappy dialogue and car chases and the obligatory bedroom scene will be quite disappointed in this film. The only bedroom scenes involve Mario getting ready for work - all striped pajamas and toothpaste - and Mario sick in bed. Not very sexy, but terribly realistic. And that's one of the things I love about this movie - the way in which Visconti places the starkly realistic right alongside the utterly dreamlike. Mario is a real person, with a real personality, and with very real problems. We all understand loneliness and the desperation to find someone to belong to. Visconti gives that loneliness and desperation form in the character of Mario. You can feel the ache in him as he walks along the city street, jostled by the other people out having a good time. You can feel it in him as he struggles with whether or not to go with the prostitute - it would be so easy, a moments pleasure, the illusion of a relationship. That's something, isn't it? No, not for Mario. He wants the real thing, and he's found a girl that he thinks he can have it with. In the end, he's left with only himself and the snow and the empty city.

And speaking of the city, I love this one. It reminded me very much of The City of Lost Children - the bridges, the water, the stairs, the constant fog. This set was a work of art. I read that Visconti had the multilayered city set built on the sound stage. No CGI city here. This one is real. It has texture, brick and mortar, water and glass. You can feel the city as the camera moves through it. There's grime here, and perpetual damp. There are homeless people and rats and garbage. This is a real city, designed for the real people who will inhabit it for the space of time that it takes to watch the film. But in that space of time, I came to love this place. And against the backdrop of this gritty town, Visconti performs a love story - always a work of fantasy and imagination - using these realistic people. The result is a purely fascinating movie about the nature of love in the modern world.

Le Notti Bianche is rated G and has been restored to glorious black and white. Running time is 97 minutes.