Review of L'Avventura (1960) by Andy P — 27 May 2008

I don't really know what to make of the whole thing. I can appreciate it from a technical standpoint, what with its desolate black and white photography and perfectly composed shots. The acting is also top-notch.

But the fact of the matter is, I wasn't really engaged throughout most of the movie. I thought it got off to an interesting start, but somewhere around the hour-hour and a half mark I started to lose interest.

This film is considered an all-time great, and I've enjoyed many classic films greatly, but I'm a bit bewildered on how to take this one. And it's not the confused/intrigued reaction that produces a lot of debate and discussion that I've had with some movies; I just felt kind of empty afterwards.

Which might be the whole point, as the characters themselves are shallow and unlikeable (and sort of unrelatable). It seems like this could be one of those films that suddenly clicks on another viewing, like 8 1/2, but I feel less inclined to revisit it as I found it sort of disinteresting.

I probably just don't get it...