Main Cast: Monica Vitti, Alain Delon, Lilla Brignone, Francisco Rabal
Release Year: 1962
Country: IT/FR
Run Time: 123 minutes
Plot
In this challenging drama by Michelangelo Antonioni, his characteristic long, significant periods of silence punctuate the message that people just cannot seem to communicate with each other. Capping off Antonioni's previous two films (L'avventura and La Notte) in much the same style, this tale involves a woman, Vittoria (Monica Vitti), who has just suffered the break-up of an imperfect relationship with a staunch intellectual (Francisco Rabal). Piero (Alain Delon), a stockbroker, casts his romantic gaze in Vittoria's direction and the woman gradually relents and they begin a tentative affair. There is much to appreciate in this man who is not overly intellectual and is blessedly free of complications, and the same can be said of Vittoria. Yet their innermost fears play upon both of them in ways that go against an honest expression of their love -- and against a lasting relationship. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
Michelangelo Antonioni furthers the ambitious efforts of his two preceding films with L'eclisse, making it a fitting conclusion to his early-'60s trilogy. With this in mind, the film's motifs seem familiar -- again Antonioni employs a cold, unromantic view of life and love centered on a dubious heroine. Yet even if L'eclisse doesn't explore any new territory, thematically or technically, one cannot deny its power. If anything, Antonioni refines his themes and techniques for this film, making Monica Vitti's central character undeniably infatuating, and complementing his lumbering pacing with a wealth of meticulously composed images. In fact, the way Antonioni makes such a fraught film of such an arid script makes L'eclisse his most impressive yet. Still, this same gift for sublime nuance is admittedly challenging, almost too challenging for its own good: masterfully crafted or not, the long sequences and barren plot test one's patience, particularly when the emphasis shifts away from Vitti's male encounters. The film's merits far eclipse these minor complaints, however. The opening sequence -- when a confused Vitti struggles to escape Francisco Rabal's obsessive character -- sets the precedent for the remainder of the film, with its unsure characters, desperate aura, and hovering ambience. The film's conclusion operates similarly, communicating its confusion lyrically, body language contradicting speech; it becomes even more striking when Antonioni employs a final haunting silence, ending the film with an epic, despair-laden montage sequence. Given its reduced narrative and obsessive emphasis on Vitti's enigmatic sense of sadness, L'eclisse's strength -- its ambiguity -- is also its most frustrating characteristic. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Movie Guide
At dawn on July 10, 1961 a young literary translator, Vittoria (Monica Vitti), breaks off her affair with Riccardo (Francisco Rabal), a writer, and begins a summer romance with Piero (Alain Delon), an energetic young stockbroker. They are unable to form a steady relationship and shortly before sunset at 20:00, September 10, 1961 they seemingly fail to meet as agreed on the corner of Viale del Ciclismo and Viale della Tecnica by the construction site of a new apartment building in the Esposizione Universale Roma (EUR), a modern suburban neighbourhood south of Rome where Vittoria lives. Frequently, scenes that in traditional cinema would proceed to move a plot forward dissolve into studies of places and things; this is in part due to the new cinematic narrative form Antonioni was attempting and in part due to his belief that places and things were supplanting people in a modern world.
