La Notte

La Notte (1961)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054130/]

The Gist:
After exhausting much of Fellini's canon, I have decided to watch my first Antonioni film. He is a filmmaker often mentioned in the same breath as Fellini, though he doesn't quite share Fellini's prominence or popularity. I even heard him referred to as more "cerebral" than Fellini and maybe that has something to do with it because this film does have a rather cold embrace to it whereas Fellini's films are often filled with warmth (contrasting Fellini's darker themes). However, it would be a disservice to the film if I did not say that it is on the same level of what I consider to be Fellini's best (La Dolce Vita) and was actually made around the same time as La Dolce Vita and explores many of the same themes as La Dolce Vita and has the same actor as the protagonist as La Dolce Vita and now you see why I'm referencing Fellini so much in another man's film. However, the most fascinating elements in the film are the distinctions from its rather similar contemporary. Antonioni has a knack for compositions but sacrifices a lot of the film's coherent fluidity for the sake of a beautiful frame. He also takes great pleasure in these beautiful moments of silence; he has a huge chunk of film time dedicated to Lydia wondering the streets in an old part of town where she and her husband used to live. Also I find the Valentina character one of the most fascinating I have seen on film. And for what it's worth, the ending in this film was far more effective than La Dolce Vita, capturing a desperation for Giovanni to hold on to a love that has long since left him. With all that said, it is a bit inconsistent when compared to the staggering genius of Fellini's counterpart.