La Notte

It started in the middle 60's as a dark comedy of manners and a contemporary look at sexual anxiety, in the vein of such European films as La Notte and La Dolce Vita.

We watched Antonioni films, like L'Avventura and La Notte, and some early Francis Ford Coppola movies. The way they shot things and the pacing, the mood, were an inspiration.

Antonioni’s trilogy of alienation, L’Avventura, La Notte, and L’Eclisse, is a great challenge to the viewer, to allow oneself to be in the moment and observe without having to resolve every dramatic beat. The feeling of being detached and observing something important is what I find so brilliant about these films. La Notte in particular, with its depiction of crumbling relationships and moral decay, has always resonated with me. Its subtle exploration of inner turmoil and the quiet desperation of its characters deeply influenced my approach to crafting emotional landscapes in my own films, especially in Reprise and Oslo, August 31st.

I like Antonioni's work, especially the ambiguity he created, the open-endedness, where it's not so much about the plot but the exploration of feelings. I admire films like L'Avventura, Eclipse, and La Notte. I also like Tarkovsky very much.