Film archive, 2003

Good Morning, Night

Buongiorno, notte

Director Marco BELLOCCHIO

1Festival entries

★Avg. rating

The 1978 kidnapping and murder of Prime Minister Aldo Moro, the architect of the historic compromise between the Italian Communist Party and Christian Democracy, remains one of the most shocking events in Italian modern political history. Bellocchio revisits this incident with his own lens, confronting the history of his homeland with an unflinching gaze. With a haunting aesthetic that weaves reality and dream together, Good Morning, Night stands as one of the most intellectual and profound films of the 1970s that grappled with the political violence of the era. At its core, the film poses a timeless and piercing question: How did young idealists become monsters? "I made Good Morning, Night in the 2000s, and it tells the story of a tragedy that took place 25 years earlier. (…) So this film isn’t simply about recounting the actions of the Red Brigades, but rather about describing and portraying the process of dehumanization these young terrorists underwent in the name of ideology. They end up killing a man because he represents an idea." — Marco Bellocchio, interview with “Le blog du cinéma,” 2016

Stills5

Good Morning, Night 1 — Courtesy of Rai Cinema S.p.A.

Good Morning, Night 2 — Courtesy of Rai Cinema S.p.A.

Good Morning, Night 3 — Courtesy of Rai Cinema S.p.A.

Good Morning, Night 4 — Courtesy of Rai Cinema S.p.A.

Good Morning, Night 5 — Courtesy of Rai Cinema S.p.A.

Film details

Director: Marco BELLOCCHIO
Country/Region: Italy
Year: 2003
Length: 107min
Original language: Italian
Elsewhere: Letterboxd IMDb Wikidata TMDB Douban

Director

Marco BELLOCCHIO

Born in Florence, Italy, in 1939, Marco Bellocchio is one of Italy’s most prominent filmmakers, whose career has spanned both the 20th and 21st centuries. His debut feature Fists In the Pocket (1965) was screened at the Locarno Film Festival, marking his emergence on the international film scene. With his second feature China Is Near (1967), directed in his twenties, he won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and quickly rose to prominence as a new talent. Since then, through works such as Slap the Monster on Page One (1972), The Eyes, the Mouth (1982), and Good Morning, Night (2003), Bellocchio has built a distinct cinematic universe that incisively examines political realities and the human psyche. In particular, Good Morning, Night offered a bold reinterpretation of the Aldo Moro kidnapping, earning him wide critical acclaim. In 2011, he received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival, solidifying his status as a master. To mark the 50th anniversary of his filmmaking career, major retrospectives were organized around the world, including at MoMA in New York, the La Rochelle Film Festival, and the BFI in London. His profound influence on cinema was further recognized at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021, where he was awarded the Honorary Palme d’Or. Continuing to work actively in recent years, Bellocchio has released the series Exterior Night (2022) and the features Kidnapped (2023) and If I May (2024), all of which reflect his sharp engagement with contemporary Italian society and history. Relentless in his exploration of both his era and the human condition, Marco Bellocchio stands as one of the greatest living masters of world cinema.

From Busan International Film Festival 2025, No. 30

Credits

Director: Marco BELLOCCHIO
Producer: Sergio PELONE
Cast: Luigi LO CASCIO, Maya SANSA, Roberto HERLITZKA, Paolo BRIGUGLIA, Pier Giorgio BELLOCCHIO, Giovanni CALCAGNO, Giulio BOSETTI
Screenplay: Marco BELLOCCHIO, Daniela CESELLI
Cinematography: Pasquale MARI
Production design: Marco DENTICI
Editing: Francesca CALVELLI
Sound: Gaetano CARITO
Music: Riccardo GIAGNI
Production company: Film Albatros, Rai Cinema
World sales: Tamasa Distribution

Festival appearances1

Choose a festival entry to see its screenings, articles and audience reviews.

Good Morning, NightBusan International Film Festival 2025, No. 30Special Program in Focus: Marco Bellocchio, the Filmmaker Who Never Stopped Raising His Fist