L'Avventura: Antonioni's art

Reviewer: Walt Opie
Rating (out of 5): *****

Although not everyone will agree, to my mind few films yield as much satisfaction upon repeated viewings as recently departed Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni's 1960 existential masterpiece L'Avventura. It gains on second and third viewing, because at that point you already know that the alluring yet troubled Anna (Lea Massari), who has mysteriously disappeared in broad daylight on a tiny island off the coast of Italy, [[**spoiler alert**]] will never be seen again (not that the characters seem too concerned about this by the end), and you see there is no hope of redemption for Anna's wayward lover Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti).

In addition, you will have realized this film is really an epic visual love poem to both Monica Vitti, who plays Anna's close friend Claudia, and who also succumbs to Sandro's apparently irresistible charms--as well as to the pure joy of cinema itself, a medium Antonioni obviously relished more as a canvas for his art than merely a vehicle to tell a linear narrative. In this way he can be compared to his fellow countryman Fellini, as was often the case throughout his career, although such comparisons are somewhat hollow-both men were inspired originals and therefore irreplaceable in their own right.

Antonioni shot many of his films with minimal scripts and a lot of "on site" inspiration. This includes L'Avventura, which he later identified as the first of a trilogy of films, to be followed by La Notte and Eclipse, all three of which are stunning black and white cinematic works of modern art. You could take any single frame from an Antonioni film, blow it up, put a frame around it, and hang it on the wall of an art museum and the image would hold its own. Of course this may not appeal to anyone more interested in getting caught up in a Hitchcockian (or Spielbergian) thrill ride with a clear beginning, middle and end. One should even take the title, which literally means "The Adventure," with a certain sense of bemusement--this is an adventure for the idle rich who live a rather empty existence with nary a care in the world (other than themselves and their own romantic interests).

In L'Avventura, Antonioni pokes many holes through the usual myth of romantic love and yet still manages to keep the torch of our ever hopeful human hearts lit at the same time. Really what he captures here is a mood of both relaxed frolic and faint unease, not to mention a certain unrecognized alienation amidst the privileged classes. Vitti carries every scene she is in; her face is serenely beautiful without being contemptuous or too overtly austere.

The Criterion DVD includes a voiceover by film historian Gene Youngblood which helps uncover the true depth of Antonioni's uncompromising vision. The bonus disc offers up a documentary about Antonioni called "Antonioni: Documents and Testimonials" that was directed with great adoration by Gianfranco Mingozzi.