Release Year: 1959
Original title: Europa di notte
Synopsis:
Europa di notte (1959), directed by Alessandro Blasetti, is a captivating, albeit unconventional documentary that takes viewers on a night-time journey through the dazzling and often illicit world of European cabaret. Through a series of vignettes set in famous nightlife spots in major European cities—London, Paris, Madrid, and Vienna—the film introduces a panorama of variety acts, including burlesque shows, dancing, magic tricks, and musical performances. It captures the spirit of post-war European entertainment, reflecting both the vibrancy and decadence of the cabaret scene that flourished during the 1950s.
Blasetti, known primarily for his work in Italian cinema, particularly within the neorealist and historical genres, approached Europa di notte with a distinctive style that blended documentary and spectacle. The film was something of an experimental work for him, designed to be an almost chaotic collage of performances and nightlife, presented as an "artistic documentary" where the line between reality and entertainment was often blurred. He described the film as a "spectacle-documentary," a fusion of reality and artistic performance that might one day disappear as the world of cabaret slowly faded into history. The documentary was a snapshot of an era, featuring some of the most famous entertainers of the time, and it would later be credited with inspiring the genre of "mondo movies," films that expose various aspects of society, often with a sensationalized and voyeuristic tone.
