Adapted from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's original novel, Luchino Visconti's film 'Le Notti Bianche' has a weirdly poetic tone to it. Having seen 'Ossessione', 'La Terra Trema' and 'Bellissima' prior to this, this is the first of his films that I have seen which is completely disconnected from Italian Neorealism, although he did venture outside the boundaries of neorealism in 'Senso' already but I haven't seen it yet. Nino Rota's beautifully haunting score complements the tone for the film. The cinematography is almost noir-ish with the shadows and the black patches are prominently darkened. The timeline is not specified which adds to the poetry of the tone. Visconti uses symbolism, metaphors and dramatic Hollywood-esque romantic storytelling. The film works very well for the most part, but I found the screenplay to be a bit uneven during the 2nd half of the film. There are a few scenes that are a bit clumsily strung together and it somewhat dragged the film down in my eyes. Marcello Mastroianni is great as the dreamy and introverted Mario. Maria Schell is a little exaggerated with her expressions, but it works with the tone set by Visconti for the film.Out of the Visconti films that I have seen, 'Le Notti Bianche' is probably my 3rd favourite. I didn't like it anywhere near as much as 'Ossessione' or 'La Terra Trema'. However the visual artistry on show in 'Le Notti Bianche' is undeniable and even though the 2nd half is plagued by a bit of unevenness in the screenplay, the film still deserves a recommendation.

Luchino Visconti directs "White Nights". The film is based on "White Nights", a short story by literature's glowering giant, Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky's story was also turned into "Four Nights of a Dreamer", a somewhat great film by Robert Bresson, and "Two Lovers", a moody film by James Gray.Filmed after the flowery, forbidden romance of "Senso", Visconti's "White Nights" was described by the director as a work of "neo-romanticism", a merger of conventional "romance" with French poetic realism.The plot revolves around young Mario, a Italian loner who's likened to street urchins and stray dogs. Keeping Mario from outright self-destruction are his fiery fantasies, particularly his obsession with young Natalia, whom he meets on a canal bridge and begins to bond. The film observes as the duo go on a series of dates, but their romance is doomed from the start. Natalia is awaiting the return of an ex lover, a longing-from-afar which Mario shares, both characters freezing the present in the hopes of some idealised future which seems unwilling to materialise.A committed Marxist, Visconti also focuses heavily on class barriers. Natalia's bourgeois, Mario a lowly clerk, class and romantic aspirations entwined. With notions as to what is "romantic" and "sexy" always changing, younger audiences will no doubt find Mario and Natalia's courtship rituals quaint. But superb black-and-white photography by Giuseppe Rotunno, lovely artificial sets, painted skies, evocative locales and puddles of murky light and shadow - all of which amplify the two lovers' longings and self-delusions - lend the film a certain aesthetic punch.7.9/10 – See Antonioni's "Beyond the Clouds" and "Identification of a Woman". Worth one viewing.

Masterly directed by Luchino Visconti this film should be watched by everyone. Le Notti Bianche di Luchino Visconti (White Nights) is an extraordinary contribution to cinematic history. A film you never forget. A mixture of romance, surrealism and madness. Really good movies are so rare that they're worth watching several times. Young actors should watch and study this film. Young directors should discover what film making is. Maria Schell quite simply, wonderful. Marcello Mastroianni is as always exceptionally brilliant. Nino Rota's music capable of conveying a mood and atmosphere. Notice how movies now a day sucks? Is anyone out there who still understand what a good movie is? If so, watch White Nights, a masterpiece.

i guess i really like visconti for the realism of his characters, and dostoyevski for his contorted, troubled personalities, but it was extremely annoying to see them pictured on film. the characters completely lack credibility, so the whole movie ends up being an extremely cheap melodrama. while i have met in real life girls like natalia, who just drive one insane with their obsessive pursuit of an aberrant dream (the guy never comes back in real life btw) - so, in principle, one should be able to portray these people on film - i did find visconti's characters as barely sketches whose behaviour made no sense and therefore could not convey any meaning.or maybe he was trying to have a "metarepresentation" of the characters? like they would be exaggerated puppets in the hands of their director and they overrepresent, love, and purity, idealism, and god-knows what else the movie wanted to say? like in Greek tragedy? i think even this way the movie fails miserably, as the dose of pathos is just completely insufficient. it's "warm", as dostoyevsky could say.also, the movie is completely unfunny, which is a pity, since usually Italian movies (as also do Italian people) have a lot of that.OK, so i think this movie is an insult to the intelligenge of any person over highschool age that looks for some sort of meaning in movies. i really don't understand why it's such a well-rated movie. the only reason i gave it 2 points is because of the dancing scene, which was kind of fun.