A slow work of pure cinema – better with improved watching and observations. I just remember watching the last ten minutes or so – pining for the two to show up – but only realized later that they already showed up – in the water, leaves, shadows, the desolate landscape…
Probably the best final scene of any film, and the only way he could match and even top the ending of L’ Avventura. It also works beautifully as the finale to the entire trilogy.
Solid and crisp, and hauntingly beautiful. The scene at the stock exchange is memorable – people can’t even find time to mourn a dead colleague, business as usual. And the ending is quite unforgettable – yes, sometimes people just give up.
I love L’eclisse…. moody, spare and challenging. same with L’Aaventura…… Monica Vitti…. you can’t go wrong.
la trilogia dell incomunicabilita di antonioni è una delle migliori cose uscite dall’italia.
I thought it was very disappointing compared to L’Aaventura
Having just seen this for the first time, while doing a bit of an Antonioini retrospective, I would agree with everyone that the ending in this movie is exceptional (those who haven’t seen it can catch the ending on YouTube and also get an excellent viewpoint there on the movie from Martin Scorcese). I love his use of camerawork in this film which I personlly found superior to L’avventura, because it is more concise. The Criterion commentary is very good, with many observations on just what is happening with the placement of objects and actors in various shots. I believe it to be Monica Vitt’s crowning achievement for Antonioni, if just for the final scene where she and the Alain Delon character connect and then disconnect before the end. Pure cinematic poetry. I now place this film near the very top of all of Antonioni’s films. Only the ending of Blowup comes anywhere close to the impact of the ending here.
this movie threw me into an existential crisis this year—it’s honestly one of the most powerful films i’ve ever seen. antonioni doesn’t tread from his usual “modernity sucks—we’re all coming to the end” theme, but i think he captures it the best in this film because his landscapes, buildings and interiors function as actors on his film set. They make the viewer feel as alienated as his characters. Antonioni is a TRUE (and overlooked) master.
I generally tell people this is my favorite movie… Recently re-watched it with my girlfriend, and I have to say that the Criterion print is amazing. Having grown up in a post-CGI world, I’m always stunned when I see a fully restored B&W movie, and how textured everything looks.
L’avventura is also lovely, but most people – I think rightly – find the man bashing plot somewhat obnoxious (plot isn’t Antonioni’s strong point). Still one of my favorite scenes from any movie is when she is in her hotel room making faces in the mirror.
As Last Year in Marienbad, which I saw for the first time recently, it belongs to a certain canon of artsy, so-called “not easy to access” films. Personally I loved Antonioni (and especially L’Eclisse) right from the start while my relationship with Marienbad is rather difficult. Both have a reputation of being difficult but I always find Antonioni easier to just give in to the beauty. He does not force you to think all the time, I guess.
why would anybody ever watch Antonioni for the plot? ha.
L’Eclisse is probably my #2 film (behind "L’Argent") but thinking about it I could easily make it my favorite/most influential. It’s amazing to me that the film still feels relevant today, despite largely being a commentary on the times. Modern ennui is alive and well in 2009, but it’s become too easy to flip on the laptop/iplod/blackberry and tune it out. I love how he ties in the apocalyptic imagery (that absurd mushroom Eur tower, the empty spaces in the finale, ending with the “exploding” film, etc) with the inability of a stable, meaningful relationship to form between man and women. I popped the DVD in earlier today and watched a bit; the main shot that stood out to me was when Vittoria and Anita are headed up to Marta’s place. You see a shot of a photograph of an African woman. You think it might be Marta, standing there, but you quickly realize it’s just a picture. There seems to be a lot of this going on with “L’Eclisse”, the subtle interplay between reality, and images that pretend to be reality but are in fact false. Seems appropriate to describe modern detachment; with billboards, tv, etc, so many of the images we internalize in the modern environment are perceived not through our senses directly, but separated by some kind of medium, purporting to be a messenger of the “real”.
Tangentally speaking, I recently got a copy of the 1928 French film “l’argent” with Bridgette Helm, she acts exactly the same way when she’s pretending to be a robot (as in metropolis), and when she’s not (as in this movie)…. which is BRILLIANT!
This film is pure poetry, and one of my favorite parts is the beginning silent scene between Vitti and Rabal which spared the audience of the usual loquacious melodrama of arguing. Ironically at the end both Vitti and Delon, on a deeper level, seem to represent an inability to reconcile commerce and humanity. People, especially Italians, always talk of Antonioni’s trilogia dell incomunicabilita’ but I think he intended much more than just an seeming inability to communicate. I think his characters could not understand the changes that were happening in the 60’s and in themselves, and I agree with MIKE G that the final montage of images, not real but almost apocalyptic, hint at the coming spectacle of our consumerist era we are now in
The film was shot at the Rome Stock Exchange, but could have been interchangeable with the New York Stock Exchange and Wall St. Delon played the role perfectly and Vitti was wonderful as usual.
The thread title is right to include Gianni Di Venanzo, who as well as being a regular cinematographer for Antonioni (e.g La Notte, Il Grido), also did such magnificent work for Fellini’s 8 1/2 and was also cinematographer on Rosi’s Salvatore Giuliano. This may be an auteur site, but he deserves more credit. The director may have the vision and give directions for what he wants, but Di Venanzo was a master of his art (at this level i think it’s more than the perfection of technical craft, even when serving), as was Vierny in the above mentioned Last Year at Marienbad.
Yes, yes, I just watched this film for the first time a couple of days ago and was completely blown away. It might truly be one of my all time favorite films, especially after repeated viewings. I watched it with my mom, grandmother, and my aunt for my birthday and my grandmother fell in love with it and before the film was even over she was already tying the title of the film to the actual film. It was a great atmosphere to watch the film in. On the drive back to my home, about an hour away, I could not stop thinking about the film and thought about it over and over and was truly amazed. The way the frames are used in this film truly blows me away, like ‘mikerswllg’ mentioned above, pictures often seem like they are part of the actual film and not just a picture in the film. The beginning scene is truly unforgettable and beautiful. I believe this film will grow to become one of my all-time favorites as time goes on and the film finishes setting in.
I love Antonioni, and this is the Antonioni film I love most. Pure poetry. Yes, I know it has a great ending, but the ending of The Passenger is pretty amazing, too. L’Eclisse seems to me to distil the pure essence of Antonioni, although I’ve probably watched La Notte more often – I guess I just love Jean Moreau’s sulky look. (I don’t understand what stops Criterion from publishing La Notte, as they already have L’Eclisse and L’Avventura). I think many Antonioni films have ‘cheesy’ scenes, such as the sex romp in Blow-Up, or the nymphomaniac scene in La Notte. For me, L’Eclisse has no cheesy scenes. Some commentator, when asked what L’Eclisse was ‘about’ said ‘architecture’. Does anyone have any thoughts on that?
^ I didn’t think the sex romp from “Blow up” was cheesy at all. I thought it was unexpected and fresh, definitely caught my attention not to mention the gloriousness of Jane Birkin.
I’ve seen “L’Aventura” but haven’t checked out “L’Eclisse” or “La Notte” yet. I guess I need to catch up on my Antonioni huh?
joseph
One of the most purely and voluptuously beautiful films ever made. A work of commited poetry. Brave and waste-less.