La Notte event image
Metrograph, Lower East Side, Manhattan

La Notte

Antonioni's night of a marriage quietly ending in Milan, with Jeanne Moreau walking, screening at Metrograph.

Wikimedia Commons image; CC BY-SA 4.0; attribution: Shane Fleming; source page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MetrographTheater2.jpg

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FilmRepertoryItalian Cinema

This is the middle film of Antonioni's alienation trilogy and the one where the architecture does the emotional work — glass towers, empty plazas, a party that goes on far too long, all photographed so that the people look temporary. Jeanne Moreau's long solo walk through Milan is one of cinema's great sequences of someone thinking. If you want a film that takes two hours to break your heart without raising its voice, take this ticket.

What to expect

A serious repertory audience in Metrograph's Ludlow Street auditorium, watching a film that asks for patience and rewards it. It is in Italian with English subtitles and runs just over two hours at a deliberate pace. The bar upstairs is open afterward, which is where the argument about the final scene tends to happen.

Good to know

  • Metrograph is at 7 Ludlow Street; the F to East Broadway is closest
  • The film is in Italian with English subtitles
  • It runs over two hours at a deliberately unhurried pace
  • Sitting centrally helps with the wide architectural compositions
  • The Commissary upstairs takes reservations for dinner afterward
  • Ask about accessible seating and elevator access when booking

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Common questions

Do I need to see L'Avventura first?

No — La Notte stands alone, though it is the middle film of Antonioni's loosely connected trilogy.

Is it subtitled?

Yes, it screens in Italian with English subtitles.

How long is it?

122 minutes with no intermission.