Thomas V
I recently discovered Antonioni and became an instant fan. His characters are such disaffected, bored and shallow people that it's impossible to feel much for them, which is strange but effective. And the fact that so little of consequence happens in the film doesn't matter, because visually the film is brilliant, with a great image in nearly every shot. And it holds up so well into our modern era.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/13/23
Full Review
dave s
L'Eclisse, mandatory viewing for anyone interested in the films of director Michelangelo Antonioni, is the story of Vittoria (Monica Vitti), a young woman in Rome who, after the end of a long-term relationship, finds herself drawn to Piero (Alain Delon), an ambitious stockbroker navigating his way through a crash in the Italian market. As with so many of Antonioni's films, L'Eclisse is filled with existential ennui as the protagonist finds herself lost in a seemingly uncaring city surrounded by those who strive for nothing more than material gain. Vitti, as usual, radiates in every scene and Antonioni's distinctive direction (in conjunction with Gianni Di Venanzo's cinematography) is top-notch. The bold and initially confusing final five minutes perfectly encapsulates the isolation felt by Vittoria, a directorial choice that could only be made by the Italian master.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The trouble with Antonioni's films is that they are always far too stylish for any Anglo-Saxon film-maker to compete with.
Personally I don't find Monica Vitti to be one of the most beautiful of Italian actresses, but the point I'm making about this film is that it would be entirely different were Vitti and Delon ugly, non-Italian, badly dressed slobs. NB A special applause by the way for Delon, doing such a marvellous, hilarious imitation/parody of, eh!, being-a so-a Italiano, con i suoi gesti delle mani meravigliosi!
Stylish architecture is also very important in this film: the modern stylish Italian 60s contemporary apartment blocks (immaculate, without any wear and tear, staining, or dirty laundry hanging on washing lines), with glass-and-steel doors to their reception areas, contrast with the tantalising glimpses of a very familiar Roman Centro Storico (historical centre) street scene around La Borsa (Stockmarket) where several scenes take place. Both types of architecture, however, breathe effortless style.
Vitti's character Vittoria is meant to be fascinating: what exactly is her malaise, if indeed she has one? Existential, existential. Maybe, maybe not.
And the title? I haven't seen a single review of the film which asks what its significance might be. Is that because we are meant to assume that the film is, ultimately, so vapid, that its title is inevitably immaterial? Eclipse. It might be on a metaphorical, existential plane. More banal, it might simply be that Vitti's feelings for the lover she is seen hesitantly walking out on at the beginning then get eclipsed by her later ones for Delon.
Sometimes a film, or any work of art, can start off from a very simple premise, and meanings and themes can be grafted on to it by deliberate authorial choice, inadvertent choices, creative interpretation of sources of bafflement by critics ... or just funny cases of luck (e.g. Picnic at Hanging Rock) which can, indeed, eclipse the real, very simple story underlying it.
Sometimes I suspect that is what lies at the heart of Antonioni's oeuvre: he obviously had some sort of enduring pash for Vitti, and maybe this, like other films, just started out as a simple vehicle for her "charms", such as they may be.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/04/23
Full Review
William L
Love it or hate it, there's little room for middle ground. Antonioni continues to go against traditional narrative structure; if you're looking for a payoff or consistency, you'll find both lacking. However, looking at it as a commentary on our own inherent irrationality (especially as it pertains to love) and frustration with an increasingly complex world, these decisions begin to make sense. However, it can't help but feel slightly less profound when compared with L'Avventura, and the slow pacing will doubtlessly throw off more than a few viewers (though the last movie I watched before this was Jeanne Dielman; compared to that, L'Eclisse is positively supersonic). (4/5)
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
08/12/20
Full Review
dustin d
L'Eclisse portrays the ennui of mid-20th century life quite beautifully, matching the lifelessness on screen with the drab mid-century architecture of the Roman suburbs.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The definition of a foreign art film, trying to make itself to be much more than it actually is
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
Full Review
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