Review of L'Avventura (1960) by Brent G — 09 Sep 2009

This had its pros, for sure, and they mostly laid in the visuals. I'd read about how this film "changed" the way movies looked forever. It gave me the feel of Barry Lyndon; every scene was basically a painting.

However, I was expecting to be blown out of the water given its reputation for visuals, and I certainly was not. I think The Seventh Seal looks a lot more impressive and it was three years prior. I understand this was supposed to be a sort of soul-searching lesson for the upper class, and that's why every character except for Claudia is vapid and unpleasant.

But this certainly took a toll on its watchability, for me. Unlikeable characters and slow pacing kinda took me out of it. I also felt that a lot of the dialogue was forced. It doesn't teach me anything new, and for a film that's supposed to be a slow and incisive internal journey, it comes up astonishingly thin in interesting philosophical content.

The whole thing bored me to tears.