La Notte

La Notte

Year: 1961

Runtime: 122 mins

Language: Italian

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni

DramaRomance

A new genre of motion picture… to make you think and feel. A day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship in Milan.

Melancholic
Bittersweet ending
Emotionally heavy
Medium intensity
Slow pacing
Moderate complexity

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – La Notte (1961)

Explore the full timeline and setting of La Notte (1961). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

The events occur in a contemporary urban timeframe, moving from a hospital visit to a late-night party and dawn departure. The pacing mirrors the rhythm of city life, where personal crises intersect with social rituals. The era feels modern in vibe, style, and pace, reflecting postwar Italian cosmopolitan life.

Location

Milan, Italy, Gherardini villa

The story unfolds across a Milan hospital and a lavish villa party in the same city. The hospital scenes ground the drama in real human pain, while the villa gatherings showcase a glittering social world. The Milan backdrop emphasizes the contrast between private turmoil and public performance.

🏙️ Urban Milan 🏥 Hospital setting 🏛️ Gherardini villa

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 14:51

Main Characters – La Notte (1961)

Meet the key characters of La Notte (1961), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Lidia (Jeanne Moreau)

A perceptive, emotionally distant wife who confronts the fragility of her marriage after the illness and death of a close friend. She oscillates between craving connection and resisting it, ultimately voicing a wish not to love Giovanni.

💔 Marital strain 🌃 Urban alienation

Giovanni Pontano (Marcello Mastroianni)

A successful writer in the midst of a personal crisis, seeking validation in career and love. His cavalier attitude toward infidelity clashes with a deep sensitivity to his wife’s pain, exposing contradictions in his character.

💼 Creative ego 🧭 Moral crisis

Valentina Gherardini (Monica Vitti)

The host’s young daughter who becomes the focal point of Giovanni’s flirtations. She blends talent with detachment, probing Giovanni’s self-image and highlighting the fragility of desire.

💃 Seductive figure

Mr. Gherardini (Vincenzo Corbella)

A wealthy industrialist who embodies social status and opportunity. He privately tests Giovanni with a job offer, navigating the line between friendship, ambition, and power.

🏢 Wealth and power 🤝 Social manipulation

Tommaso Garani (Bernhard Wicki)

A left-wing cultural critic whose illness and death catalyze the film’s emotional arc. He stands as a mirror of idealism and the limits of intellect when confronted with mortality.

🕊️ Intellectual idealism

Roberto (Giorgio Negro)

A man who pursues Lidia with intensity, offering escape from the strains of her marriage. His presence highlights desire’s pull and its potential consequences within the social circle.

👤 Pursuit

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 14:51

Major Themes – La Notte (1961)

Explore the central themes of La Notte (1961), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

💔 Marital Crisis

Lidia and Giovanni's marriage fragments under unspoken desires, jealousy, and emotional distance. The death of Tommaso intensifies feelings of fragility and disillusionment. Public moments of closeness mask private estrangement.

🏙️ Urban Alienation

The Milan setting frames intimate drama within a world of social rituals and appearances. Luxurious parties reveal emptiness beneath glamour, while the couple's crisis unfolds against a crowded, indifferent city. The city amplifies inner turmoil rather than solving it.

👀 Voyeurism & Desire

Desire threads through the party, as Giovanni flirts with Valentina and Lidia studies the scene from the margins. The interplay of spectatorship and performance questions authenticity in relationships. Infidelity becomes less a plot twist and more a symptom of existential drift.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 14:51

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Movies about marital decay like La Notte

Stories that dissect the quiet, painful dissolution of a partnership.For viewers of La Notte, this section features movies like it that explore the slow dissolution of relationships. These similar drama films focus on quiet marital breakdown, emotional weariness, and the bittersweet acknowledgment of love's end, often set against a backdrop of urban alienation.

melancholicintrospectivelonelyweariedquietclaustrophobicobservational

Narrative Summary

Narratives in this thread often unfold over a condensed period, focusing on small gestures and failed communications that reveal a deep chasm between characters. The journey is one of passive acceptance rather than active resolution, ending with a painful, often bittersweet, recognition of what has been lost.

Why These Movies?

Movies are grouped here for their shared focus on the quiet, observational study of a relationship's end. They prioritize emotional authenticity and a melancholic atmosphere over plot, creating a heavy, introspective viewing experience defined by its realism and emotional weight.

Films about urban alienation like La Notte

Character studies of loneliness and disillusionment within the urban landscape.If you liked the themes of alienation in La Notte, explore these similar movies about existential crisis and social disillusionment in the city. These films capture a mood of profound loneliness and introspective melancholy, often with a slow, observational pacing that mirrors the character's emotional state.

alienatedintrospectivedissociativelonelymelancholicobservationalwearied

Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern follows characters who are adrift, often over the course of a single day or night, as they confront their own emptiness and the futility of their social roles. The journey is internal, with minimal external plot, driven by a series of encounters that highlight their detachment from the world around them.

Why These Movies?

These films are united by their central theme of urban alienation and the resulting existential dread. They share a melancholic tone, slow pacing, and a heavy emotional weight, creating a cohesive vibe of intellectual and emotional disconnection within a modern setting.

Unlock the Full Story of La Notte

Don't stop at just watching — explore La Notte in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what La Notte is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

La Notte Summary

Read a complete plot summary of La Notte, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

La Notte Summary

La Notte Timeline

Track the full timeline of La Notte with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

La Notte Timeline

More About La Notte

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about La Notte: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

More About La Notte

Explore More About Movie La Notte

La Notte (1961) Plot Summary & Movie Recap

La Notte (1961) Scene-by-Scene Movie Timeline

La Notte (1961) Spoiler-Free Summary & Key Flow