L'eclisse (1962)

Director:

Michelangelo Antonioni

Writers:

Michelangelo Antonioni (scenario and dialogue) &
Tonino Guerra (scenario and dialogue) ...

Release Date:

20 December 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A young woman meets a vital young man, but the love affair is doomed because of the man's materialistic nature.

Plot Keywords:

Stock Market | Translator | Human Relationship | Dog | Construction Site

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Alain Delon	...	Piero
Monica Vitti	...	Vittoria
Francisco Rabal	...	Riccardo
Louis Seigner	...	Ercoli
Lilla Brignone	...	Vittoria's Mother
Rossana Rory	...	Anita
Mirella Ricciardi	...	Marta

Also Known As:

Eclipse (USA)
L'éclipse (France)
The Eclipse (UK)

Runtime:

118 min | Hungary:125 min | Argentina:97 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Italy:VM14 | Argentina:13 | Finland:S | Portugal:17 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (video rating) (1994) | UK:A (original rating) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Rome Stock Exchange, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Cineriz

Trivia:

Final part of the unofficial "Incomunicability Trilogy" also including L'avventura (1960) and La notte (1961).

Quotes:

Vittoria: As long as we were in love, we understood each other. There was nothing to understand.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001)

SciFi for the Emotional Life

Smart and moody, this film is not only about emotional Eclipse, it is about the eclipse of the old society as it changes, and also about how architectural changes eclipse older style, and more importantly, nature. There are really smart and insightful comments here on changing racial attitudes, and the disparities between rich, poor, and the people who don't mind cannibalizing the disenfranchised. All this commentary done with the subtlety of the slowing growing suburbs that our leading lady lives in.

Monica Vitti plays our "everywoman" who is our window into the Director's mind, but also herself a mere dot on the landscape. Early on, we see her throw away exactly what she seems to be looking for, only to pursue it in exactly the wrong place/person.

The film has a look of a sci-fi horror movie, but the horror here is emotional desolation, the destruction of nature/natural-ness, and the looming threat of nuclear war. This film, so cleanly represents the era when "duck and cover" was not only a physical act, it was an emotional state.

If you don't like film as art, you will be completely lost by the architectural city-scape ending montage, and the lack of traditional film closure. This is not a light evening of movie entertainment, but it is film making at it's non-verbal, eloquent best. Captivating, thought provoking, and meaty.