Masters of Cinema Brings Antonioni's LA NOTTE to Blu-ray!
We are huge supporters here of Eureka Entertainment, and reserve special love for their connoisseur label Masters of Cinema, which is proving to be every bit as good as its better-known Trans-Atlantic cousin, The Criterion Collection. In the latest in a string of impressive new releases, Masters of Cinema will be bringing Italian maestro Michelangelo Antonioni's beloved 1960's classic, La Notte, to Blu-ray for the very first time anywhere in the world on 22 April.
Starring European screen icons Marcelo Mastroianni (La Dolce Vita) and Jeanne Moreau (Jules et Jim), La Notte is a sprawling study of Italy's upper middle-class, as seen through a single day in the lives of a renowned author and intellectual, and his trophy wife.
As the press release goes on to state:
Over the course of one day and the night into which it inevitably bleeds, the pair will come to re-examine their emotional bonds, and grapple with the question of whether love and communication are even possible in a world built out of profligate idylls and sexual hysteria.
Photographed in rapturous black-and-white by the great Gianni di Venanzo (8-1/2, Giulietta degli spiriti), La Notte presents the beauty of seduction, then asks: "When did this occur -- this seduction of Beauty?"
The Masters of Cinema Series release boasts a brand new 1080p presentation of the film, presented in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio, with previously censored sequences restored. The release also includes a 56-page booklet containing a new essay on the film by critic and scholar Brad Stevens and the full transcript of a Q&A with Antonioni, conducted upon the film's release in 1961. The disc also includes the original theatrical trailer, which you can check out below.
I for one am excited about this release. For many years I shied away from Antonioni's work, but recently I eased into his oeuvre with English-language efforts Zabriskie Point and The Passenger, as well as late Italian entry Identification of a Woman. This release of La Notte seems the perfect opportunity to explore some of the director's better-known classics.
