Review of L'Eclisse (1962) by Christopher C — 28 May 2010

Michaelangelo Antonioni's 1962 film L'ECCLISE is the third in the auteur's loose trilogy of the early Sixties, similar to L'AVVENTURA and LA NOTTE in speaking eliptically of modern Man's alienation and starting Monica Vitti. The plot of L'ECCLISE is fairly simple: the translator Vittoria (Monica Vitti) leaves her lover Riccardo (Francisco Rabal), begins a romance with the dashing young stockbroker Piero (Alain Delon), and then after a tumultuous relationship the couple seemingly fail to meet up at their accustomed time and place.

Since the plot is so simple, the film generally runs on atmosphere, the long shots that Antonioni was famous for and Vitti's smashing beauty. This is a film that I enjoyed, but I find it less than a masterpiece, because unlike the best of auteur cinema it doesn't leave be asking the big questions. The problem is Monica Vitti. While there are references here to the Cold War, the downsides of capitalism and the impersonality of modern architecture, all these musings are diminished by her sheer screen presence where she simply stands before the scene, and by her charming but lightly annoying figeting when she confronts her lovers.

Still, even if the message is weakened, there are some gorgeously constructed scenes here, such as the madness at a stock exchange as the market crashes, and the devastating ending where we watch the busy city oblivious to the absence of Vittoria and Piero. My four-star review reflects my own mixed feelings, but I do suppose that some cinephiles will rate this higher and I still recommend it to fans of art films.