La prima notte di quiete
Valerio Zurlini / IT, FR, 1972 / 130 min.
Alain Delon plays a jaded literature teacher in wintry Rimini; director Valerio Zurlini cast the 37-year-old star in an atypical role – one he takes on with verve. A portrait of a midlife crisis and an impossible love in a small provincial city in the grip of moral decay. Chosen by Albert Serra.
A bleak, rainy Rimini in the early 1970s. The revolutionary spirit of the student uprisings of 1968/69 has ebbed away, but not yet completely. The atmosphere is jaded and indolent; Italy is caught up in the rise of terror group Brigate Rosse.
It's against this background that literature lecturer Daniele Dominici (Delon) walks into the sleepy provincial town of Rimini, hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his beautiful camel coat and a lit Gauloise permanently dangling from the corner of his mouth. During the day he teaches, at night Dominici is a gambler and car player. His depressed wife watches as he loses himself in an affair with the stunningly beautiful student Vanina.
La prima notte di quiete – the title a line from a poem by Goethe – by the melancholic Valerio Zurlini is a portrait of a midlife crisis and a depiction of a claustrophobic provincial town. However, above all, Zurlini’s film is a narrative in powerful images – framing, colour and editing exude pessimism, there seems to be no hope for the human race.
Screening of the 35mm version from Eye’s collection.
This is part of
Special screenings
Details
Director
Valerio Zurlini
Production year
1972
Country
IT, FR
Original title
La prima notte di quiete
Length
130 min.
Language
Italian
Subtitles
NLD
Format
35mm
Part of
Albert Serra
Eye Filmmuseum presents the first exhibition in the Netherlands about the work of Catalan film and theatre director Albert Serra. Transforming the entire exhibition space into an immersive stage, Serra orchestrates nocturnal and clandestine encounters where theatre, cinema, and art converge.
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