Review #242: 'L'Avventura' (1960)

Three wealthy socialites, Anna (Lea Massari), her boyfriend Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti), and their beautiful friend Claudia (Monica Vitti), take a boat trip to Lisca Bianca, a volcanic island off the coast of Sicily. Anna and Sandro are unhappy, and following an argument, Sandro wakes up from a nap to find Anna missing. After a frantic search, the group leaves the island, and Sandro and Claudia begin a guilty love affair. They carry on the search for Anna, but as the film goes on, she is gradually forgotten and the two indulge their desires.

Michelangelo Antonioni makes slow films. He is more concerned with setting a tone, and creating the world that his characters inhabit. This is evident in the two films of his I've seen, Blowup (1966), probably his most popular film, and The Passenger (1975), a film I consider to be one of the best, if not the best, film of the 1970's. L'Avventura is no different, and Antonioni takes his time showing the morally corrupt and emotionally shallow world these upper class characters seemingly float through. The pace allows time for the central mystery of Anna's disappearance to slowly leave our mind, as Sandro and Claudia's love affair comes to the fore. They are initially full of guilt, but it becomes clear that these characters will have what they want.

Released at the same time as Fellini's hugely successful La Dolce Vita (1960), the two films tackle similar subjects. The life of the rich and care-free are apparently soulless adventures in partying where the consequences of actions are irrelevant. While La Dolce Vita was an excellent film, L'Avventura shows ultimately the darker side of this society, and it's impact greater. The characters in La Dolce Vita look like they're having fun, but in this, they drift through their lives like ghosts. These are horrible people, entirely lacking in emotion or any true feeling, apart from disconnection and isolation.

The cinematography is jaw-droppingly beautiful, with nothing left out of focus. Every frame has a crisp and polished look to it, as if Antonioni is asking us to look at what else is happening, what else is lying beneath the surface. It was booed at Cannes, but went on to win the Jury Prize, and has since then gone on to be recognised as one of the greats of world cinema. I must admit the slow plotting did sometimes hamper my enjoyment of the film, but L'Avventura leaves its mark and it's beauty becomes apparent after the credits have rolled.


Directed by: Michelangelo Antonioni
Starring: Gabriele Ferzetti, Monica Vitti, Lea Massari
Country: Italy/France

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie