The third film of Michelangelo Antonioni’s trilogy. Featuring beautiful cinematography and a wonderful performance from Monica Vitti and Alain Delon, “L’Eclisse” is an enjoyable film about humanity’s disconnection from the modern world.
Image courtesy of © 1991 Investing Establishment. 2005 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: L’Eclisse – The Criterion Collection #278
DURATION: 125 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Black and white, monaraul, in Italian with optional English subtitles, 1:85:1 aspect ratio
COMPANY: Janus Films, The Criterion Collection
RELEASED: 2005
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Written by Michelangelo Antonioni and Toni Guerra
Scene Collaborator: Elio Bartolini, Ottiero Ottieri
Produced by Raymond Hakim, Robert Hakim
Music by Giovanni Fusco
Cinematography by Gianni Di Venanzo
Edited by Eraldo Da Roma
Production Design by Piero Poletto
Costume Design by Bice Brichetto, Gitt Magrini
Starring:
Monica Vitti as Vittoria
Alain Delon as Piero
Francisco Rabali as Riccardo
Louis Seigner as Ercoli
Lilla Brignone as Vittoria’s mother
Rossana Rory as Anita
Mirella Ricciardi as Marta
The conclusion of Michelangelo Antonioni’s informal trilogy on modern malaise, L’eclisse (The Eclipse) tells the story of a young woman (Monica Vitti) who leaves one lover (Francisco Rabal) only to drift into a relationship with another (Alain Delon). Using the architecture of Rome as a backdrop for the couple’s doomed affair, Antonioni reaches the apotheosis of his modernist style, returning to his favorite themes: alienation and the difficulty of finding connections in an increasingly mechanized world.
In 1962, Michelangelo Antonioni (who had earned the nickname “the Master of Alienation”) released his third film, L’Eclisse (also known as “The Eclipse”), as part of his alienation trilogy.
The Italian modernist director was known for his radical new style, not following any convention of filmmaking and most of all, characters and events are disconnected. The first part of the trilogy “L’avventura” (1960) was an international success and would introduce the world to the actress Monica Vitti, a woman who would appear as the main character in several of his films. Antonioni returned with “La Notte” (1961) starring Jeanne Moreau and Marcello Mastroianni which focused on the slow death of a marriage and final of the trilogy “L’Eclisse” would focus on the alienation of man in the modern world.
Known for his long takes but artistically capturing the surroundings of a location, Antonioni’s “L’Eclisse” was a winner of the Jury Special Prize at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival and nominated for the Palme d’Or. Needless to say, when watching Antonioni’s films, these are films that are not your typical films and therefore was either applauded or booed. “L’Eclisse” is a big example of a film which you watch without expectation and you just take in the acting, the cinematography and then you think afterward, what Antonioni was trying to accomplish.  In this case, a disconnect with love.
L’Eclisse is about a woman named Vittoria (played by Monia Vitti). A woman who has broken off a relationship with novelist Riccardo (Francisco Rabal). We see through their time together that she is frustrated and has had enough, while for him, he is not emotionally attached to her but probably a man who just enjoys the sex. There is no emotional attachment to this relationship and literally their love has run dry.
Needless to say, that she leaves him and goes to visit her mother at the Rome Stock Exchange and similar to her relationship, mother and daughter’s relationship seems quite dry. Her mother seems more interesting in making money and making sure her young stockbroker Piero (played by Alain Delon) makes money. And as far as Piero is concern, he has his eyes on his client’s daughter….Vittoria.
But can these two disconnected characters find love within one another?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“L’Eclisse” is presented in 1:85:1 aspect ratio in black and white. According to Criterion, this new, high-definition digital transfer was created ona Spirit Datacine from two 35mm composite fine-grain master positives. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System. The picture quality is very well-done. Blacks are nice and deep, there is dust and scratches that can be seen but for the most part, this is the best the film has ever looked.   With that being said, I did look into the flickering issue that some people have complained about and when watching it on a 52″ about 10 ft. away, I didn’t notice it at all. Although, watching it on a 24″ about two feet away, then I noticed it. So, I would assume that it comes down to your viewing distance and your viewing source.
As for audio, audio is presented in monaural and according to Criterion, the audio was mastered at 24-bit from various 35mm optical track prints and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss and crackle. The audio is Dolby Digital 1.0 and is center channel driven but for those with modern home theater receivers will probably enjoy the film more if you direct audio to all channels (which was my preference).
Audio is in Italian with English subtitles.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“L’Eclisse” has features on two DVD’s. The following special features are included:
- Audio Commentary – On disc one, there is audio commentary by Richard Pena (the program director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York). Pena is very well-versed with Antonioni’s work and does a good job of explaining his thoughts of what Antonioni is trying to project with each scene and action.
- Michelangelo Antonioni: The Eye that changed Cinema – (55:47) A documentary on disc two focusing on the life and career of Michelangelo Antonioni. A look at the various movies he has directed, the talent he worked with and also some scenes that were not used in previous films. We get to see various interviews with Antonioni, various talent and also, Michelangelo Antonioni accepting major awards from various awards shows.
- Elements of a Landscape -Â (21:58) A featurette on disc two from 2004 about Michelangelo Antonioni and the film L’Eclisse featuring Italian film critic and scholar Adriano Apra and Atonioni’s longtime friend Carlo di Carlo.
- 32-page Booklet – The booklet features the following essays: “A Vigilance of Desire: Antonioni’s L’Eclisse” by author Jonathan Rosenbaum, “Antonioni and Vitti” by Gilberto Perez (professor of film studies at Sarah Lawrence College and also an author) and an excerpt from a spring 1962 issue of “Film Culture” by Antonioni titled “Making a Film is My Way of Life”.
“L’Eclisse” is one of those films in which a viewer can definitely watch and each person probably can come up with a different answer or something similar to what another person is thinking.
For me, Vittoria is a woman who has dated far too many men who have not had this emotional attachment to her. She’s a beautiful woman but deep inside, she’s emotionless. Why? One can go deeper and think, who are the men in her life? Where is her father? How has she been treated? And is she suspicious of men that try to get close to her? And why is she emotionally detached? There are very few moments in the film where see Vittoria smile and relaxed. May it be a scene where she becomes an African native and just dances and has fun, another scene where she just watches a plane coming down for a landing or a scene where she sees a dog and just laughs. Perhaps what we are seeing is Vittoria wanting to be in another place but now. Where her life is hearing about her mother want money, seeing men who talk about money, have material things and look at her as only as a plaything.
As for Pioro, he is a cocky stockbroker who has made a lot of money in his career and is attracted to Vittoria. But similar to Vittoria, he is also somewhat emotionally detached as we see in one scene, a drunkard steals his nice convertible and he doesn’t seem that all bothered by it.  It seems as if he is hoping he can get lucky with Vittoria more than anything.  In fact, when police find his car in a river bank with the dead drunkard inside, not once does he show any emotion towards the man who died in his car, all he can think about is selling it and buying a new car.
But it goes far beyond these two characters, for example at the Rome Stock Exchange, we see the stock brokers in frenzy and then taking a moment of silence of a death of their colleague and then back again to their way of life. This is similar to Vittoria where we see her at rare times leaving her state of coldness and we get a glimpse of happiness.
And then the character of Marta, a new friend of Vittoria and a woman who is from Italy but was raised in Kenya and now back in Italy and feels disconnected. Her home features pictures and relics from Kenya as if she truly misses the environment but not the people but not the people at all (in fact, she makes fun of them) and sees herself living a life in Kenya with importance. But now back home, she is now a person who has lost that feeling of importance and feels uncomfortable.
Antonioni’s “L’Eclisse” is a film about disconnection and similar to his previous two films, a person’s view of this detachment can be seen be applauded because we rarely see all characters in a film portrayed in this manner or because of that, one can be disenchanted by it. What I enjoyed about “L’Eclisse” is that there are fragments placed within the storyline that is made for people to think. May it be the Rome stock market or the architecture of Rome in the background or how the lamp lights look artistic during the night. But also, how Atonioni defies normalcy, defies closure and presents his film the way he wants to without following the rules that most filmmakers go by. It’s somewhat of a rebellious film but it fits within the confines of his trilogy on modern malaise.
There is so much too appreciate about “L’Eclisse” and needless to say, it all comes down to the viewer and what they are able to appreciate. If one is thinking this will be your typical romantic film, those who have not seen an Antonioni film or L’avventura or La Notte are going to quickly learn that L’Eclisse is far from what they may expect.
Overall, “L’Eclisse” is another wonderful release from The Criterion Collection as it really does a great job of featuring Michelangelo Antonioni’s work and is highly recommended!