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This film by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni completed a trilogy about doomed relationships in the modern world, and won the 1962 Cannes Special Jury Prize. Vittoria (Monica Vitti) is a young woman who breaks up with her lover Ricardo (Francisco Rabal), a bookish intellectual, and instead takes up with brash stockbroker Piero (Alain Delon). However, there are still emotional ties between Vittoria and Ricardo. The final breakdown of Vittoria's emotional state is symbolically mirrored by Antonioni's montage of a deserted, dying city.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Antonioni's films are very definitely not everybody's cup of tea. But they are extremely rewarding if you take the time to appreciate their lack of pace, which succeeds in developing dramatic tension. I'd agree with the other review, concerning the relative lack of character development for the part played by Alain Delon in "L'Eclisse". But this remains a truly magnificent cinematic work. And that ending is just totally and utterly unforgettable. One of the most poignant that you will ever see in any film.
Update: 26/08/08. Just watched this yet again. The sort of film one can come back to, time and time again. (So long as one likes the style!) Alain Delon's character possibly lacks real development, perhaps, so as to reflect the superficial environment in which he plys his trade. (A stock exchange.) To call this film "visionary" is an understatement. Years ahead of its time.
Update: 26/08/08. Just watched this yet again. The sort of film one can come back to, time and time again. (So long as one likes the style!) Alain Delon's character possibly lacks real development, perhaps, so as to reflect the superficial environment in which he plys his trade. (A stock exchange.) To call this film "visionary" is an understatement. Years ahead of its time.
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
By Room For A View
VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD
The film starts with two people silently orbiting each other as the whirr of an electric fan circulates hot air around a neat suburban apartment. The atmosphere is tense which conveys the possibility of a sleepless night spent amidst the verbal/non-verbal death throes of a doomed relationship. These first few minutes set the scene for the rest of the film - a deep exploration of human relationships, particularly the potential for emotional paralysis and incommunicable feelings of spiritual barrenness. These themes are explored through a myriad of situational compositions and introspective camerawork and, significantly, the character of the young, energetic stockbroker Piero (Delon). For me Peiro plays a key role in this film for he acts as counterpoint to Vittoria's (Vitti) angst ridden conscience. The machinations of the highly charged Roman stock exchange (the winners and losers) displays Peiro's superficial lust for life - the money-making, women with blonde hair, sport cars and luxurious property. Through Piero, Vittoria immerses herself in a frivolous encounter, occasionally interrupted by self doubt and physical withdrawal, but, portentously, proving to be an empty experience: which is skilfully juxtaposed against a sterile suburban landscape consisting of manicured green spaces, modernist architecture and urban conformity. Antonioni's use of anonymous characters, particularly the haunting last ten minutes, usurps the film's principle characters, with a skill that demonstrates that conventional narrative driven by a linear plot can be replaced with metaphorical imagery and a form of mannerism that creates a visual mindscape of intense proportions. This edition comes with an excellent discourse by a French academic.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By K. Gordon
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
Physically beautiful, with an astounding last 5 minutes that elevates
the film to another level.
Like all Antonioni films, this might even improve on 2nd viewing, but less
obviously than with the better known L'Avventura. This story is less
mysterious, less surreal, so there is less a sense that one is missing
layers.
A woman leaves her fiancé, falls for a young stockbroker, and we see
that everyone cares more about money and 'things' than human
relationships. The scenes in the stock exchange are amazingly shot, and
every frame uses architecture and framing to underline the themes of
alienation and the emptiness of modern life. Monica Vitti and Alain
Delon make the two leads more human and real than earlier Antonioni
main characters.
But a number of scenes just feel clunky, even if beautiful, and some
ideas seem overstated or over-repeated.
That said, the experimental last five minutes, which puts the themes in
a wider, more global context, is very moving and special. And to be
fair, many love this even more than I, though not in the the near
universal embrace of L'Avventura.
Note: The Criterion disc, while generally gorgeous, has some annoying,
if subtle flickering in the transfer, confirmed as a built-in problem
with some on-line research.
the film to another level.
Like all Antonioni films, this might even improve on 2nd viewing, but less
obviously than with the better known L'Avventura. This story is less
mysterious, less surreal, so there is less a sense that one is missing
layers.
A woman leaves her fiancé, falls for a young stockbroker, and we see
that everyone cares more about money and 'things' than human
relationships. The scenes in the stock exchange are amazingly shot, and
every frame uses architecture and framing to underline the themes of
alienation and the emptiness of modern life. Monica Vitti and Alain
Delon make the two leads more human and real than earlier Antonioni
main characters.
But a number of scenes just feel clunky, even if beautiful, and some
ideas seem overstated or over-repeated.
That said, the experimental last five minutes, which puts the themes in
a wider, more global context, is very moving and special. And to be
fair, many love this even more than I, though not in the the near
universal embrace of L'Avventura.
Note: The Criterion disc, while generally gorgeous, has some annoying,
if subtle flickering in the transfer, confirmed as a built-in problem
with some on-line research.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
FAB
BOUGHT THIS AS A GIFT FOR MY HUSBAND WHO REALLY ENJOYED IT. GOOD VALUE FOR THE MONEY. SOMETHING QUITE DIFFERENT!
Published 22 days ago by Lyndy
4.0 out of 5 stars
L'Eclisse
Another Michelangelo Antonioni masterpiece starring the gorgeous Monica Vitti and Alain Delon from the original "Mechanic". Read more
Published 3 months ago by RONAN R OSULLIVAN
3.0 out of 5 stars
Passer-By
L'Eclisse concerns a woman, Vittoria, Played by Monica Vitti, drifting through her life and love affairs in a suburban setting. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Peter O'Neill
5.0 out of 5 stars
M.Vitti takes the biscuit
Once you get over the alienating ennui of the opening ten minutes or so, the slowly developing grip of the film-maker's genius starts to exercise an hypnotic kind of stranglehold. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mario
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of my absolute favourites...
This film, for me, is the peak of Antonioni's career. After watching this film, everything else seemed over-stuffed and over-wrought. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Max Towle
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent on DVD
As it is unlikely anyone would come across this film by chance, there is no need to describe its artistry. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Eternal Moments
4.0 out of 5 stars
No quite Antonioni's best, but almost!
Monica Vittileaves a difficult relationship yet with emotional wounds that leave her with feelings she doesn't fully understand and is incapable of communicating. Read more
Published on 17 Jan 2011 by S. Hyde
5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome To Antonioni's Waiting Room
The final part of a trilogy that began with The Adventure, The Eclipse focuses again on a fractured relationship, one that collapses before the lady finds a fleeting happiness with... Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2010 by Philoctetes
5.0 out of 5 stars
L'Eclisse
I found this film amazing.Beneath the hedonism and consumerism of modern Italian life there is an austerity of vision and a movement towards abstraction. Read more
Published on 12 May 2009 by technoguy
4.0 out of 5 stars
Iconic cinematography with a thought-provoking finale.
The camera-angles, reflected images and stunning poses would make this a must-see film for those who appreciate a film as art. Read more
Published on 29 Sep 2007 by Ms. J. HARDING
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