during the day and night.
Throughout the day and into the night, the novelist, Giovanni Pontano (played by Marcello Mastroianni), and his wife Lidia (played by Jeanne Moreau) attend a party at a wealthy socialite's home, where they experience a sense of alienation and disconnection from the shallow, hedonistic guests. Meanwhile, they contemplate their empty marriage and their individual struggles with creative stagnation and personal insecurity.
Later, as they visit their dying friend, Tommaso Garani (played by Bernhard Wicki), at the hospital, they confront the harsh reality of mortality and the fragility of their own relationships. Giovanni also has a brief affair with a young woman he meets at the hospital, revealing his own moral ambiguity.
Throughout the film, director Michelangelo Antonioni captures the changing landscape of Milan, juxtaposing the old and the new, the traditional and the modern, in a critique of the cultural and social upheaval of post-war Italy. The film explores the themes of alienation, existential crisis, and the inability to connect in a rapidly changing world with a beautifully crafted visual style and nuanced performances from the lead actors.