White Nights (1957 film)
Le notti bianche | |
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Italian | Le notti bianche |
Directed by | Luchino Visconti |
Screenplay by | Suso Cecchi d'Amico Luchino Visconti |
Based on | White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
Produced by | Franco Cristaldi |
Starring | Maria Schell Marcello Mastroianni Jean Marais |
Cinematography | Giuseppe Rotunno |
Edited by | Mario Serandrei |
Music by | Nino Rota |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | The Rank Organisation |
Release date |
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Running time | 102 minutes |
Countries | Italy France |
Language | Italian |
Box office | 511,922 admissions (France)[1] |
White Nights (Italian: Le notti bianche, French: Nuits blanches) is a 1957 romantic drama film directed by Luchino Visconti, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1848 short story of the same name. It was written for the screen by Visconti and Suso Cecchi d'Amico, and stars Maria Schell, Marcello Mastroianni, and Jean Marais.[2] The film earned positive reviews from critics and audiences, and won the Silver Lion at the 18th Venice International Film Festival.[3]
Plot[]
Late one winter night in downtown Livorno,[4] a lonely young man named Mario meets an equally-lonely young woman, Natalia, standing on a bridge. Mario is lonely for social reasons; he is a stranger and a newcomer to town, and is only there because of a recent work transfer. Natalia is lonely because she has always lived in isolation with an overbearing grandmother, even in the heart of the city. Her near-blind grandmother is extremely protective and refuses to allow her out at night, forcing her to sneak out. She fell in love with a dashing foreigner who had rented a room in her house. Though he reciprocated the love, he had to leave suddenly, promising to return in one year. She hasn't seen or heard from him since.
While both try to keep the relationship platonic, Mario rejects obvious offers of romantic attention from other women in the story, holding on to a fruitless obsession. They're soon forced to admit they've fallen in love, especially after Natalia's lover fails to return. Mario thanks the young woman for the moment of happiness she has brought him.
As snow falls, he proposes marriage and she accepts. However, in the midst of their ecstasy, the lover suddenly returns as promised. Overjoyed, Natalia runs to him and leaves a brokenhearted Mario behind. He is back at square one, and has put more energy into pursuing the fantasy of an obsession rather than any prospect of real love. He wanders off into the night, playing with a stray dog he had met earlier.
Cast[]
- Maria Schell as Natalia
- Marcello Mastroianni as Mario
- Jean Marais as The Tenant
- Marcella Rovena as The Landlady
- Clara Calamai as The Prostitute
- Maria Zanoli as The Maid
- Dirk Sanders as Dancer
- Lys Assia as Singer
- Corrado Pani as Young Man
Production[]
The entire film was shot on an elaborate soundstage set at Cinecittà Studios in Rome; recreating the streets, stores, waterways, and monuments of Livorno.[5][4] In order to have misty backgrounds by night but a clear view on actors, director Visconti and cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno could not use mist filters on camera lenses. Instead they used large rolls of tulle hanging from ceiling to the ground on the sets. Putting street lamps just behind, it worked perfectly for the desired effect.
Visconti cast Maria Schell after meeting her at film festival where she was a juror. Though he originally planned to dub her voice with a native Italian actress (as was standard practice at the time), he was impressed when she learned all her dialogue despite not speaking the language fluently, and let her loop her own lines. However, French actor Jean Marais was dubbed by Giorgio Albertazzi.
Adaptation[]
According to academic Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, "In turning the Dostoevsky story into a film, Visconti got rid of the first-person narration and made the girl less of an innocent and, in fact, at times something of a hysteric and a tease. In the course of these changes, he also made the ending sadder. In the story, the narrator is allowed a little coda, in which he thanks the girl for the moment of happiness she has brought him. In the film, the hero is left alone, befriending the same stray dog he met at the beginning, back at square one, with no sense that the love he briefly felt has transformed him in any way."[6]
Release[]
Critical reception[]
White Nights holds an 88% "Positive" score on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[7]
Accolades[]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1957 | Venice Film Festival | Golden Lion | Luchino Visconti | Lost to Satyajit Ray for Aparajito |
Silver Lion | Won | |||
1958 | Cahiers du Cinéma's Top 10 List | Best Film | 3rd place | |
Nastro d'Argento | Best Director | Lost to Federico Fellini for Nights of Cabiria | ||
Best Producer | Franco Cristaldi | Lost to Dino De Laurentiis for Nights of Cabiria | ||
Best Screenplay | Luchino Visconti, Suso Cecchi d'Amico | Lost to Ugo Pirro, Elio Petri for We Still Kill the Old Way | ||
Best Actor | Marcello Mastroianni | Won | ||
Best Score | Nino Rota | Won | ||
Best Cinematography | Giuseppe Rotunno | Lost to Gianni Di Venanzo for Il Grido | ||
Best Production Design | Mario Chiari, Mario Garbuglia | Won | ||
Bambi Award | Best International Actor | Jean Marais | Lost to Tony Curtis for Sweet Smell of Success | |
1960 | Sant Jordi Award | Best Foreign Director | Luchino Visconti | Won |
Best Foreign Screenplay | Luchino Visconti, Suso Cecchi D'Amico | Won |
Legacy[]
The 2008 American film Two Lovers, though not an adaptation, was inspired by the short story as well as Visconti's film.[8]
References[]
- ^ "Box Office Figures for Jean Marais films". Box Office Story.
- ^ "NY Times: White Nights". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-03-10. Retrieved 2009-03-21.
- ^ Le notti bianche, retrieved 2021-07-22
- ^ Jump up to: a b "White Nights". Film at Lincoln Center. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- ^ Melville, David. "Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland – Luchino Visconti and White Nights – Senses of Cinema". Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- ^ Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey. "Le notti bianche". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- ^ White Nights (1957), retrieved 2021-07-22
- ^ "Two Lovers: James Gray Interview". At the Movies. June 3, 2009. Archived from the original on August 10, 2009. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
External links[]
- White Nights at IMDb
- White Nights at AllMovie
- White Nights at the TCM Movie Database
- Le notti bianche an essay by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith at the Criterion Collection
- White Nights and Other Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (in English) at Project Gutenberg
- Italian-language films
- 1957 films
- 1957 romantic drama films
- Italian films
- Italian romantic drama films
- Italian black-and-white films
- French films
- French romantic drama films
- French black-and-white films
- Films based on White Nights
- Films directed by Luchino Visconti
- Films scored by Nino Rota
- Films set in Tuscany
- Films shot at Cinecittà Studios
- Films based on short fiction
- 1950s Italian film stubs
- Romantic drama film stubs