Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb Criterion Release., 15 Oct 2006
L'Avventura 1960
Superb Criterion Release.
L'Avventura was directed in 1960 by what many would regard now as one of the truly great directors of all time, Michelangelo Antonioni. `L'Avventura' is now regarded as being the first part in a quadrilogy of films followed by `La Notte' (1961), E'clisse (1962) and `Red Desert' (1964) all dealing with the themes of modern alienation and the human condition. The feature that sets `L'Avventura apart from the other three films though is that `L'Avventura still has a strong masculine, if immature and spiritually impotent, character. Later films would concentrate on the female character to a far greater extant.
L'Avventura is essentially a road movie with an objective that is not important to the film, so I won't say anything about that. What is important is that Antonioni is writing a whole new cinematic language in his use of camera angle and position within a scene, actors being filmed from behind and characters entering a scene from what would appear to be the wrong direction. The scenes and composition on the island are perhaps some of the best I've ever watched. Antonioni also uses architecture as a metaphor in many scenes and would be explored to a greater extent in his next two films `La Notte' and `E'clisse'. Saying that though, there are some Hitchcockian clichés in `L'Avventura' such as the train entering the tunnel as a metaphor for intercourse. It can sometimes be difficult for a younger audience to understand why `L'Avventura' is so important because so many of these ideas seem familiar to us now, but nothing was made like this before it. The audio commentary on this disc by film historian Gene Youngblood is an invaluable tool to a greater understanding of this films position and status in cinema history and is highly recommended. The transfer is superb and presented in 1.77:1 and enhanced for 16x 9 televisions.
L'Avventura starred Monica Vitti (E'clisse, 1962; Red Desert,1964), Gabriele Ferzetti (Once Upon A Time In The West, 1969) and Lea Massari (Mummur Of The Heart, 1971). Other similar films I would recommend are `La Dolce Vita' (Federico Felini, 1960); `Picnic At Hanging Rock' (Peter Weir, 1975) and `Paris, Texas' (Wim Wenders, 1984). `L'Avventura won the Special Jury Prize at Canne in 1960 yet still feels like a fresh and modern film and gets better every time I see it. It's in my top 5 greatest films ever made without a doubt.
Highly Recommended.
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32 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Key work from Michelangelo Antonioni., 28 Nov 2002
1959's L'aventura was the film that moved Antonioni into the international realm of directors- it is far more diverting and perplexing than the later, somewhat over-rated Blow Up (1966). The story, as such, is not unlike Peter Weir's later Picnic at Hanging Rock- though there is just one disappearance here. The plot is fairly simple- people are on a cruise of the Mediterranean, Sandro and lover Anna are on it with her friend Claudia- on an island Anna vanishes, never to be found and Claudia replaces Anna as Sandro's lover. This is a very strange film, with interesting/oblique compositions courtesy of photographer Aldo Scarvarda; L'aventura along with The Red Desert are Antonioni's finest works (later films like Blow Up & Zabriskie Point have moments and are visually stunning, but as a whole leave me cold)- and it ranks next to another oblique film of this period, Alain Resnais's L'Annee derniere a Marienbad (1961)- which is equally fantastic and a presient for modern films like Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive & Open Your Eyes. Antonioni and L'aventura may not to be your taste, but it still demands to be seen by those with an interest in cinema beyond mere entertainment...
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
6 stars if it were possible XXXXXX...there, 1 Aug 2008
Anything that can be said has been said so I wont go on to much...In my view for me this is without doubt one of the best films I have seen in years, Monica Vitti is so stunning even mesmerising. Beautifuly shot. A girl myseriously disappears while on a yachting trip after that the search begins by her Lover and her best friend...(what are friend for) and what use are lovers ??. I feel that many men and women will relate to certain main characters in the way they act out there lives, I wont give anything away.cos thats the kinda guy I am.
I would also suggest seeing L'Eclisse also starring Monica Vitti and the stylish Alain Delon (good hair) also Red Desert I think it may be released on dvd region 2 in October 2008 its available on region 1 at present.plus La Notte is a must as well.
Michelangelo Antonioni's study of the idle upper class,is a gem. The quality of this Criterion dvd is second to none. And the 2nd disc with the audio commentary by film historian Gene Youngblood is fascinating..
Buy this with no hesitation you will not regret it..
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