La Notte (Gece)

La Notte is a 1961 Italian-French black-and-white drama directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Ennio Flaiano and Tonino Guerra. Shot on location in Milan, it follows a celebrated novelist, Giovanni Pontano (Marcello Mastroianni), and his wife Lidia (Jeanne Moreau) through roughly one day, from a Saturday afternoon to early Sunday morning. Their time together opens with a hospital visit to their dying friend Tommaso, continues with the launch of Giovanni's latest book and Lidia's lonely walk through the city, and ends at an industrialist's lavish party that lasts all night. At the party Giovanni is drawn to the host's daughter Valentina (Monica Vitti), while Lidia finally admits aloud that their marriage is finished. The film won the Golden Bear at the 1961 Berlin International Film Festival and earned Antonioni the David di Donatello for best director. It is regarded as the middle chapter of his informal trilogy on alienation and incommunicability, between L'Avventura (1960) and L'Eclisse (1962).