Review of L'Avventura (1960) by Frédéric I — 25 Jun 2009

Antonioni's alleged masterpiece is certainly a brilliant, and remarkable film, but it is also an incredibly difficult one. It barely concerns itself with any plotting. The back of the Criterion DVD box will tell you that it is the story of a woman named Anna, who goes missing on a yachting trip, and her friend and lover who search for her, while conducting an affair as they search.

But Anna's disappearance is a MacGuffin. She is never found, and that is no secret. L'Avventura, which ironically means "The Adventure" in Italian, though the subject of this film would hardly suggest adventure as we have come to know it, is a nihilistic tale of rich, beautiful people, fornicating through a meaningless existence.

Meaningless is the key word here. Antonioni seems to purposefully push his film into tedium, as his two leads pretend to fall in love with each other. But it is not a purposeless tedium. Antonioni uses it to its full artistic potential.

His leads search for Anna, but never seem to care if she is found. They have no connection, or chemistry, and even seemed bored with each other, only barely excited by their empty romance. Sex, lies, and selfish frivolities consume their lives, and they know it, but don't care, or at least pretend not to.

It is painful, and often unbearable to watch. I was reminded of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, but if the violence and brutality were turned inward. If the power of Antonioni's shots and compositions were not so great, I imagine, as truthful and poignant as this film is, it would be impossible to sit through.

However, for those who make it to the end, the pay-off is an extraordinary moment of cinematic beauty as good if not better than any I have seen. The entire 2 hours and 25 minutes of hollow sexuality, and unacknowledged pain is put in perspective, and the full measure of Antonioni's genius is revealed as his subjects experience what may be their first real moment of love.