The movie opens on a man and woman who are as silent, lifeless and hard as the furniture. They say nothing for a painfully long time. Then finally: "We need to make a decision." "About what?" "About everything we talked about all night." And just like that we figure out, if we hadn't already, that this is a breakup. Not a melodramatic Hollywood breakup with perfectly rehearsed monologues and torrents of emotion, but a real world breakup: awkward, uncomfortable, excruciatingly long, and ice cold.
"L'eclisse" is Michelangelo Antonioni's 3rd film in his 1960-1962 trilogy about the dysfunction of love and human connections (L'avventura, La Notte, L'eclisse). But although it's a thematic trilogy, the plots and characters are unrelated so you can jump in at any point. "L'avventura" is generally the favorite because the plot has the most going on. "La Notte" is somewhat darker, dehumanized and subdued. Here in "L'eclisse" we have a return to expressive human characters but presented in a detached way; that is, interrupted with frequent random episodes that upset the plot and force us to think beyond the story. Our main protagonist Vittoria (Monica Vitti) is dealing with a tense breakup and a possibly psycho stalker, but then randomly she is invited to a friend's house, and from there randomly a dog runs away prompting them to chase through the night, only for her to be randomly distracted by a skyline of flagpoles clanging in the wind. It's this unconventional presentation which may confuse, frustrate, or outright anger a lot of viewers, but it's also what makes this such a memorable film. These episodic fragments unsettle us as if they don't belong, and yet we recognize how everything is undeniably related, and we are challenged to figure out exactly how and why.
If I just made this sound like a dry & irritatingly artsy flick, then good. Even though I don't think it is, that's a good expectation to have as you go into it. But despite its cryptic presentation, I'll tell you what keeps it engaging and entertaining throughout. Our 2 lead actors, Monica Vitti and Alain Delon, are wonderfully human and entertaining to watch. Unlike the 2 emotionless characters in "La Notte", here we have 2 very animated and dynamic individuals. Even when they're not saying anything, their faces are intriguing because they are so expressive and at times even humorous.
Particularly it's Monica Vitti who pulls us into the story even though there isn't much of a "story" to grasp; she is just delightful to watch, even though she plays the role of a mostly sad and alienated individual who doesn't have much to say. We feel her yearning to find happiness, and we sympathize deeply. Alain Delon plays her antithesis: an energetic stock broker who is *too* connected to the world. As we see the contrasts between his world and hers, we wonder if they can ever come together. As with the other 2 films in the trilogy, "L'eclisse" is about opposites, contrasts and conflicts, all marvelously told through the silent character that occupies all 3 films: the architecture of postwar Italy.
"L'eclisse" is Michelangelo Antonioni's 3rd film in his 1960-1962 trilogy about the dysfunction of love and human connections (L'avventura, La Notte, L'eclisse). But although it's a thematic trilogy, the plots and characters are unrelated so you can jump in at any point. "L'avventura" is generally the favorite because the plot has the most going on. "La Notte" is somewhat darker, dehumanized and subdued. Here in "L'eclisse" we have a return to expressive human characters but presented in a detached way; that is, interrupted with frequent random episodes that upset the plot and force us to think beyond the story. Our main protagonist Vittoria (Monica Vitti) is dealing with a tense breakup and a possibly psycho stalker, but then randomly she is invited to a friend's house, and from there randomly a dog runs away prompting them to chase through the night, only for her to be randomly distracted by a skyline of flagpoles clanging in the wind. It's this unconventional presentation which may confuse, frustrate, or outright anger a lot of viewers, but it's also what makes this such a memorable film. These episodic fragments unsettle us as if they don't belong, and yet we recognize how everything is undeniably related, and we are challenged to figure out exactly how and why.
If I just made this sound like a dry & irritatingly artsy flick, then good. Even though I don't think it is, that's a good expectation to have as you go into it. But despite its cryptic presentation, I'll tell you what keeps it engaging and entertaining throughout. Our 2 lead actors, Monica Vitti and Alain Delon, are wonderfully human and entertaining to watch. Unlike the 2 emotionless characters in "La Notte", here we have 2 very animated and dynamic individuals. Even when they're not saying anything, their faces are intriguing because they are so expressive and at times even humorous.
Particularly it's Monica Vitti who pulls us into the story even though there isn't much of a "story" to grasp; she is just delightful to watch, even though she plays the role of a mostly sad and alienated individual who doesn't have much to say. We feel her yearning to find happiness, and we sympathize deeply. Alain Delon plays her antithesis: an energetic stock broker who is *too* connected to the world. As we see the contrasts between his world and hers, we wonder if they can ever come together. As with the other 2 films in the trilogy, "L'eclisse" is about opposites, contrasts and conflicts, all marvelously told through the silent character that occupies all 3 films: the architecture of postwar Italy.