Night Sun (1990) User Reviews (11)

The miracle maker

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 17 February 2006]

Leo Tolstoy's story was adapted with great style by Vittorio and Paolo Tviani, with the help of Tonino Guerra, an excellent writer on his own, and a man that has been connected with wonderful movies in his native Italy. This is a story told by the Tavianis with extreme care in magnificent locations in their usual way that pays a lot of attention to detail and the beauty of the Italian landscape. The musical score by Nicola Piovani, one of their usual collaborators, contribute to make the film a joy when we listen to the atmospheric music. Cinematographer Giuseppe Lanci captures with precision the gorgeous scenery around L'Aquila and the region into images that leave the viewer breathless.

The story is a strange one. When Sergio, the young man from humble origins, gets the attention of Charles III of Naples attention, he doesn't even suspect of the deceit he is made a part of. The beautiful Cristina reveals a secret that will be pivotal in Sergio's life. In horror, he flees that glamorous life at the court and becomes a priest. He wants to be no ordinary priest, he wants to go to a remote area to become a monk.

It's at that location that he is discovered because of having performed a miracle. The solitude he is seeking intrudes in his life and the final blow arrives in the form of a disturbed young woman who has more than a cure in mind. The noble Sergio decides to go back to the world he left behind because he realizes he can't stay in a place where is no longer where he wants to be.

Julian Sands is perfect as Sergio the mystical man. Natassja Kinski plays Cristina. Charlotte Gainsbourg makes a great appearance as the disturbed Matilda. Patricia Millaret, Margarita Lozano, and the rest of the crew make the film a joy to watch.

The Taviani brothers should be seen more often because their films are always so beautifully crafted and leave their grateful fans awaiting eagerly for the next film.

study of miracles

[ay9a · 8/10 · 11 May 2003]

Beautiful, spiritual and thought provoking film about a heart-broken man who decides to seclude himself in a mountain. I consider it the best by the directors. It might make you think of how the "miracle" is conceived in our mind from witnessing a super-human power of will, and how the legend of a saint may arise.

"May the sun shine on you, even at night"

[JuguAbraham · 8/10 · 11 March 2023]

The full body of the Taviani brothers is fascinating and I have only seen 10 of their 22 feature films. "Night Sun" is a fine adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's short story "Father Sergius."

At least four films have adapted the tale on screen: twice by Russian directors, once in 1917 (a silent film) and then by Igor Talankin in 1978; a French film in 1945; and finally, the Italian film by the celebrated Taviani brothers "Il Sole Anche de Notte," (Night Sun) in 1990.

The Taviani brothers' version with Julian Sands in the principal role is very close to the original tale, even though it replaces Russian locations with Italian ones and the modes of worship of the Russian Orthodox church with the Roman Catholic one. What is worth connecting, however, are the end of the Italian film version and the disappearance of actor Julian Sands 2 months ago.

The contributions of actresses Nastassia Kinski and Charlotte Gainsbourg, although small, make an impact. So also the contribution of the famed screenplaywriter Tonino Guerra with the Taviani brothers. Limited to two films--"Night Sun" and "Kaos"--both remarkable works of the Taviani brothers.

a lyric film

[Mazzeno · 16 June 2005]

great film. it is based on Tolstoy's novel, but when I first saw it I did not know that. I just felt there was something from Russia, maybe the enthusiasm under silence. Sergio, a nobleman with strong self-respect and vanity, found his fiancée used to be a mistress of his duke, he felt deeply hurt and betrayed, and he became a friar. after many years, he was known as a sage, but all faded out when a innocent girl was taken to him. though a Italian film, but the directors express in the most appropriate way the thought of religion and life. They added details like the pear tree at the intersection, applied to the hero's feeling and very lyric. I also very appreciate the scene when Sergio knew the truth of his fiancée, nothing was told, the hero just saw her stood in dark. nothing need to be told.

extremely well-acted but far from perfect

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 22 December 2005]

This was a good film and I enjoyed watching it. However, I also understand that while I could sit through the film, many others would be bored by both its slow pacing and the lack of emotional range from the characters. Julian Sands portrays this emotionally limited man and he seemed to do a good job with it--but people wanting action and excitement in their films will probably have a hard time sticking with the film.

So on the plus side were the acting, cinematography and musical score. One the negative side was the ambiguous plot. The exact motivations for Sands' character and the point the author (Tolstoy) is trying to make seem a little vague.

Overall, a decent film and worth seeing, though there are of course some better Italian films.

PS--in the original Tolstoy version, does it REALLY take place in Italy or was the setting Russia? I am curious to know.

Wonders, Miracles, Breathtaking Scenery, Glorious Actors...

[wobelix · 10/10 · 9 September 2004]

As I have tried to express my deep love for Taviani films before, I will not start that again. But boy is this film a marvel !!

Overwhelming photography, getting wider and wider where the protagonist tries to get further away from each and everyone. To find the temptation which will finally get him down from his pedestal (= his pride) in the renovated shack that was once his hermit cell.

The story is gripping and a true marvel, the pace elaborate (NOT slow, definitely not slow !!) and thoughtful.

And the actors ! What performances !! Where to start ? With Julian Sands of course, who is glorious even when he is not allowed to use his own voice. And the women in his life !! Just like that other bearded miracle worker, Father Sergio has 4. A mother and 3 ladies. (but then I'd forget his sister, and that would be very ungrateful...) Superb performances by all of them, and each and every other cast member.

Let's pray for another miracle: Let's sincerely hope Maestro Paolo and Maestro Vittorio make some dozen more of their sublime storytelling films...

A Beautiful Story of Miracles

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 15 February 2004]

Spoilers

In the Eighteenth century, in Naples, Baron Sergio Giuramondo (Julian Sands) is a noble with simple origins. King Carlos III introduces him to Countess Cristina (Nastassja Kinski), for an arranged marriage with a member of a noble and wealthy family. Sergio falls in love with Cristina, but a few days before the wedding, Cristina tells Sergio that she had an affair with King Carlos III and had been his lover for one year. Feeling humiliated and with a broken heart, Sergio joins the Church and becomes a Catholic priest. A few years later, he asks to go to Monte Di Petra, a hermitage where the previous priest had died. There, the peasants believe he is able to make miracles and many pilgrims arrive there. Among them, comes Matilda (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a beautiful daughter of a trader, who seduces Sergio. Sergio leaves his seclusion, tries to commit suicide, and return to his lands as a drifter. This movie is a beautiful story of miracles and faith. Slow, as most of Taviani's films, but very intriguing. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): `Noites Com Sol' (`Nights With Sun')

Search for meaning

[oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx · 10/10 · 12 October 2011]

The Night Sun is the story of a proud, honest and sensitive man who struggles in the world some centuries ago. His writhings relate to the mismatch between the indifference of people to one another and his ideals of compassion and intimacy, between the world's requirement of submission and debasement and a pride which accepts no tyranny.

Sergio Giuramondo searches for meaning in isolation, but is only bored and obstreperous, the blithe landscape, perhaps as metaphysical as physical, re-echoes the monotone of indifference he has encountered elsewhere, rutting scarabs in the bright sunshine suggest soulless lust in a world without God. Neither is hope or meaning to be found in the exalted echelons of the nobility.

The movie seems ambivalent, has Giuramondo, a talented brilliant man been offered his fill of the cup of life, and dashed it to the floor, his own worst enemy, a man at war with himself, or does he find contentment and meaning, and a route to a life beyond this veil, a white chalk path out of the green hills of life's wilderness.

In either case, the Tavianis created here a movie that lingers, a baffling pageant interspersed with longueurs, as it their wont and stamp.

Requires patient viewing

[jordondave-28085 · 7/10 · 22 September 2023]

(1990) Night Sun/ Il sole anche di notte (In Italian with English subtitles) PERIOD PIECE DRAMA/ SEMI AUTO BIOGRAPHY

Gorgeous country side with story adapted from the book "The Sun Also Shines at Night" by Leo Tolstory, written and directed by Paolo Taviani and Vittorio Taviani, centering on an ordinary soldier, Sergio Giuramondo (Julian Sands) to a life of monastery living as a hermit, and his effect on other people- almost like a semi-auto biography. Requires patient viewing with a subtle story line, and interesting historical Italian references, topping it off with gorgeous picturesque countryside.

Magic!

[nvandenberghe · 10/10 · 29 July 2005]

This is a beautiful, profound movie. It is based on a novel by Dostoievsky, which ads an existential dimension to the craft of the Taviani brothers.

The struggle of the lead character to extract himself from all human attachments is fascinating - and his ultimate failure should give some thoughts to a lot of self-proclaimed spiritual schools, from the Vatican to the Dalai Lama.

While this is a history piece, this movie retains the neo-realism style of some other works like "Padre, Padrone" mixed with a touch of surrealism as in "Kaos".

The Taviani brothers at their very best. One can only wish they had remained so inspired!

Beautiful but static

[frankde-jong · 6/10 · 6 September 2023]

"Night sun" is based on "Father Sergius" a short story by Lev Tolstoy that was posthumous published in 1911. It was earlier adapted by Yakov Protazanov in 1918, a movie I haven't seen yet.

The story is about father Sergius (Julian Sands), a man who hopes to find solitude and piety in the church after leaving a promising career. He never finds the solitude he is looking for. As a monk in a monastry the abbot shows him off in front of guests because of his former career. As a hermit he becomes the center of a fairy like situation because people belief he is capable of performing miracles and heal the sick. At the end of the film as a beggar he meets a woman who had realized piety not by retreating from society but by standing in the midst of it. Only then he realised that it was not the world that had prevented him from reaching his goals but his own vanity.

The story of father Sergius is deeply religious and philosophical. The moral made me think of something I once read about Zoroatrian religion. In this philosophy the aim is not minimizing doing bad things (for example by becoming a hermit) but maximizing the balance between good deeds and sins. This can only be realized by staying in real life.

"Night sun" was made during the heydays of the Taviani brothers, which lasted in my opinion from "Padre Padrone" (1977) to "Fiorile" (1993). The Taviani brothers are born storytellers and the images are once again very beautiful. The story however is rather slow and the main character is one that shows (and wants to show) as little emotion as possible, his ultimate aim being to control all his emotions. This makes the film rather static.

On top of that the credibility of the main character was for me undermined in a fairly early stage of the film. His decision te become a monk was primarily based on the collapse of his intended marriage. Before the marriage he confesses to his future wife that he initially selected her to further his career (she forgives him). She confesses to him that she had had an earlier affair with the king (he does not forgive her). To me his confession to her seems more humiliating than her confession to him, so his reaction was for me a rather inappropriate one. Maybe this was an early sign of his vanity, that would bother him for the rest of the movie.