Review of L'Avventura (1960) by Ivan M — 03 May 2012

When audiences first saw L'Avventura back in 1960, they had one of two reactions: some reacted negatively to the very slow moving and unconventional film, while others were so shocked annd impressed by the way Antonioni seemed to expand the limits of what cinema could be that they hailed it as a groundbreaking step forward in filmmaking.

The opening half of the film revolves around a group of wealthy intellectuals on a private cruise, the attention focusing mainly on Anna (Lea Massarri), the enigmatic and depressed mistress of Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti), a rich architect, and Claudia (Monica Vitti), Anna's best friend.

They stop off by some large rocky islands in the middle of the ocean and, eventually, without any explanation whatsoever, Anna disappears. So straight off, audiences fresh from the dramatic 1950s were preparing themselves for a thrilling mystery tale.

But half an hour later you have forgotten completely about Anna, simply because even while searching the country for her, Sandro and Claudia seem to have forgotten about her as well. Antonioni was less interested in conventional narrative and more in using a camera to capture the emotions and relationships between people who seem to have lost all ability to feel.

It seems that repeat viewings improve one's outlook on all the films in Antonioni's 'incommunication' trilogy. I still feel very firmly that L'Eclisse, the last film, is the greatest, but L'Avventura is a clear masterpiece and one of Antonioni's finest works.