This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
So many, so many thoughts. That last scene was like a knot being slowly untied, and so many things started flooding into my mind. There's a lot on sex and its transactional dynamics at different levels in the film, but my mind has been specifically stuck on Alice (especially) and the final scene of the film.
The most popular theory I've found online seems to be that Helena is abducted in the final scene and Alice is not only part…
"She makes you want to touch her. Paris is like her, and so is life."
"Dubourg, what will you do tonight?"
"I'll write a few pages on my Egyptians...
Then I make love to Fanny.
I fall into her silence as into a well.
At the bottom is a great sun that warms the earth"
Louis Malle's writing is so so beautiful. I loved this film so much. When Gymnopédie No. 1 started playing over Jeanne Moreau's conversation with Alain, my heart melted.
The scene between Alan and Monica in the bedroom is the sexiest, most terrific thing I've ever seen. She's ethereal; I felt like I had her in my arms, like I had longed deeply for her forever and finally had her in my arms. I was indifferent for most of this film, but the last leg really captivated me. The last few minutes are pure poetry. Antonioni strikes me again. I haven't gotten La Notte out of my head, and now this. Beautiful.
I haven't been able to stop thinking about this film. The atmosphere, the music, Jeanne Moreau floating through Paris at night like a gorgeous angel of death, searching for her lover—I adore everything about it.
