La prima notte di quiete 1972 - Depressing Italian Neo Noir Drama.

Directed by Valerio Zurlini. 

Written by Valerio Zurlini with screenplay credits going to Enrico Medioli and Valerio Zurlini. Cinematography was by Dario Di Palma, Music was by Mario Nascimbene. 

The film stars Alain Delon as professor Daniele Dominici, Sonia Petrovna as Vanina Abati, Giancarlo Giannini as Spider, Lea Massari as Monica, Dominici's partner, Adalberto Maria Merli as Gerardo Pavani, Salvo Randone as the school prinipal, Alida Valli as Vanina's mother, Renato Salvatori as Marcello, Nicoletta Rizzi as Elvira as the Adriatic seaside town of Rimini. 

Daniele is a brooding substitute high school teacher who likes to gamble at cards and has a somewhat shady past. He's both a gifted poet from a once prominent family, but also a former jailbird who's spent time in the barbed wire hotel for forgery and passing bad checks. Lucky in cards but unlucky in everything else. He takes a job in Rimini and moves there with his equally depressed and suicidal gal pal Monica. 

Rimini

Alain Delon as professor Daniele Dominici

Sonia Petrovna as Vanina Abati

 Renato Salvatori as Marcello and Giancarlo Giannini as Spider

Lea Massari as Monica

Adalberto Maria Merli as Gerardo

Alida Valli as Vanina's mother

Daniele becomes friends with the local hoodies Spider, Marcello and their card playing cronies. He spends his nights gaming rather than with Monica.

While teaching his class he becomes smitten with the quite and very attractive Vanina. One class assignment is a choice of writing an essay about themselves or on the novelist Manzoni only Vanina chooses to write about Manzoni rather than herself, we find out why later. Vanina equally becomes interested in this man who who knows nothing of her past but is genuinely concerned about her feelings to the point of reprimanding a student who disrespects her.

Vanina has Gerado, a crooked business man and occasional card player as her current boyfriend. It all goes Noirsville when Vanina and Daniele become lovers and an infuriated Gerado discloses Vanina's past as the whore daughter of Rimini's notorious "town pump." 

Noirsville

This film reminded me a lot of Il Grido another bleak and depressing Italian Noir. Classic Hollywood Drama Noirs in similar brooding, dismal veins are In A Lonely Place, Clash By Night, Woman On The Beach, and Sweet Smell of Success. 

We get this beautifully shot slightly over the top melodramatic style from director Zurlini exploring existentialist hopelessness, if that interests you, this is the film for you. Neurotics with feelings of anxiety, obsessional depressing thoughts, will probably relate, those without will wonder WTF they just watched. It's sort of a Kitchen Sink Drama Noir Italian Style set among crumbling Palazzos and the tragically hip. 8/10 for the acting, cinematography and the solo performances of Maynard Ferguson on trumpet Gianni Basso on sax and the orchestra director Roberto Pregadio.