Review of L'Avventura (1960) by Ryan H — 15 Jun 2011

The first Michelangelo Antonioni film I have seen, and now I'm dying to see more. The emotions I got from L'Avventura reminded me of La Dolce Vita. These people are stuck in life without knowing how to make themselves happy.

They have all the money they need to be happy but they can never find people to truly care about them. At first it seems like this can't be the true moral of the story because Claudia cared so much about Anna.

And Anna's father cared so much about Anna. When she disappeared off the island they had no idea what to do. Claudia says later that she had wished she were dead. It doesn't take too long for these people to move on.

Anna's father is already doing business deals and moving around without a care in the world. Sandro, Anna's fiance, decides to pursue Claudia. At first Claudia thinks this is repulsive, but she then goes along with it and wants him to tell her he loves her.

She knows deep down this is all fake, but she needs someone there for her. This is why Anna escaped, and why we all thought she was crazy in the beginning. We think she has so many people who love her, but she takes all of their love for granted.

No, she just knows the truth. These people will betray her or forget about her within a few days of her being gone. She needed to escape, to find people who could actually care. And if not, she will leave and find a way to live life that pleases her.

Some complain that this film is about nothing. Well, it doesn't have the conventional plot, but it reminds me of Fellini. We are following characters instead of a story. Anna is never found, nor do they even suggest what happens to her.

The audience can pick up fairly easily what happened once they sit and think about it, but it's not followed as a plot. Instead we are following these characters that "loved" Anna at one time.

The cinematography is brilliant. Every single second of this film is a piece of art. I love the way that Antonioni brings side characters that last for a few moments to get his point across even more.

For example, when Sandro goes to the pharmacist to ask about Anna stopping by to buy tranquilizers, we catch what the pharmacist's marriage is like. They have only been married for 3 months, and he doesn't mind going out in front of her and flirting with another woman.

This isn't harmless flirting either; he was obviously trying to pick her up. It seems like in this film, everything fades or is fake to begin with. Everyone is trying to fill a void in their lives, but no one knows how to do it and make themselves happy.

An undeniable masterpiece, and I can't wait to watch more from Antonioni.