L'Avventura - Criterion Collection

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Considered by many to be his masterpiece, L'Avventura positioned Michelangelo Antonioni as an international talent. What appears to be a search for a missing person is actually an examination of alienation and self-discovery found along a voyage through the morally decadent world of the idle rich. Less concerned with a smooth plotline, Antonioni tells his story through the use of symbolic images and flawless character development. Using 'real time' camera shots and rich, landscape imagery, Michelangelo Antonioni creates an unpredictable world where nothing is ever resolved. Ironically, what makes L'Avventura so unpredictable is the high level of realism portrayed by each character and their environments. This isn't your packaged, formulaic film with a happy ending. A tough one to watch but well worth it...and it gets better and better with repeat viewings. L'Avventura is quintessential Antonioini. Not to be missed. --Rob Bracco

Description

A girl mysteriously disappears on a yachting trip. While her lover and her best friend search for her across Italy, they begin an affair. Antonioni's penetrating study of the idle upper class offers stinging observations on spiritual isolation and the many meanings of love. Criterion is proud to present this milestone of film grammar in a new Special Edition double-disc set.

Customer Reviews:

Lost.......2007-08-01

What a week it has been for the world of cinema! In one day we lost two of the world's greatest filmmakers; Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni. There is something oddly fitting about that since both men made a career focusing on films in which characters felt isolated from the world. Bergman I would agrue invoked religion a bit more in his films, while Antonioni's films were more social commentaries. More modern in a sense. Bergman's films were poetry, Antonioni's had a more "every day" feel to them.

Antonioni is prbably best known to American audiences for his film "Blow-Up" (1967) which was nominated for Oscars and is seen as the inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation".

It has often been said if you were asked to describe an Antonioni film, you wouldn't be able to. There is some truth to that, but it is not a criticism. His films were more about emotion. They created a certain mood. Yes, there have been those you argue his films are boring. No plot. They go on way too long. Heaven knows I've been in heated debates discussing Antonioni.

Of all his films I think "L' Avventura" may have been the best film to get his theme of alienation across. The film at first seems to be about a couple; Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti) and Anna (Lea Massari). They are about to get married but she doesn't want to. She has become bored with her life. The two, along with some friends, including Claudia (Monica Vitti), take a boat trip togther. They make a stop on remote island and while on that island Anna disappears.

At this point in the film one would assume it is going to turn into some action film, the title after all, when translated into English means "The Adventure", but no, Antonioni pulls the rug from underneath us as soon the entire rescue theme is abandoned as Sandro and Claudia spark a romance while looking for Anna.

One of the questions I always liked to asked when I watch this film is, what happened to Anna. Some may think she was kidnapped. Others, perhaps drowned. I think she ran away knowing that Sandro would not seek to find her. Their love was dying, if it hadn't already.

Every character in "L' Avventura" is aimless. They have no direction. Just like their boat trip, which never at one point do we hear a character call out a destination, these characters are like the sea. They float along in society. They are literally drifters.

But not everyone liked 'L' Avventura" when it was first released. Stories are now legendary about the response it received at the Cannes Film Festival, it was meet with "boos". Some audiences members walked out. Despite everything it won the award for "Jury Prize" but lost the Gold Palm to Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita". Some have even argued "L' Avventura" and "La Dolce Vita" are the flip side of each other. Both films revolve around characters seeking the "sweet life".

Late in Antonioni's life he suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed. He was unable to speak and because of his declining health, producers would not want to work with him. In 1995 Wim Wenders co-directed one of Antonioni's masterpieces "Beyond the Cloud". Sadly, his last film to be seen in theaters, was part of a trilogy on erotica entitled "Eros". His segment, "The Dangerous Thread of Things" was unfairly criticized. Roger Ebert went as far as to call it "an embarrassment".

Though now with his passing I suppose some may want to go back and look at and re-examine his films. If you do chose to do so, I recommend starting with this film. If you are still hungry for more, this movie was the first part of a trilogy on alienation followed by "La Notte" (my personal favorite) and "L'Eclisse". Afterwards watch "The Passenger" and "Red Desert".

Bottom-line: One of the great Antonioni films and the one I think best gets his theme of alienation across. Antonioni will be greatly missed.

Essential film genius: Antonioni's 'L'Avventura.'.......2007-08-01

The world lost one of its greatest film directors earlier this week. Known for his radical narrative style, Italian film genius Michelangelo Antonioni (1912-2007) depicted the alienation of man in the modern world in his powerful films. His films typically pondered existential questions of mortality, loneliness, emptiness, and moral decadence. Ingmar Bergman (who died on the same day as Antonioni) said he admired some of Antonioni's films for their detached and dreamlike quality, but considered most of Antonioni's films "boring."

Considered his masterpiece, L'Avventura (1960) is quintessential Antonioini, exemplifying his film aesthetics of slow pacing, spare plot, a narrative structure that relies upon a series of apparently disconnected events, and a theme of spiritual isolation in a world obssessed with material wealth. It is the first film of a trilogy, followed by La Notte and L'Eclisse - Criterion Collection. L'Avventura is an unsolved mystery (so don't expect a typical Hollywood ending) that tells the story of a group of rich couples from Rome, who take an overnight yachting trip to a remote, volcanic island off the coast of Sicily. A young woman named Anna (Lea Massari), vanishes after wandering off. Although the others in the group search for her, they eventually lose interest and return to their own idle lives. While searching for her, Anna's lover, Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti), and her best friend, Claudia (Monica Vitti), quickly fall into an affair, and the film ends with people immersed in their moral decadence. At the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, the film was booed by some members of the audience, but it won the Special Jury Prize.

Criterion's first-rate two-disc edition includes digital transfer and enhanced sound, with improved English subtitles, a 58-minute documentary by Gianfranco Mingozzi, the fascinating writings by Antonioni, read by Jack Nicholson--plus Nicholson's personal recollections of the director, and the original theatrical trailer.

G. Merritt

The Shallowness of Love.......2007-06-10

Michelangelo Antonioni throws one love off a cliff (literally), but not before showing us its depth, and then walks us through the formation of another. I am reminded of Nabakov's Lolita in how we are led to empathize with what we would condemn if presented less obliquely and artfully.

This film does nothing less than expose the shallowness and flimsiness of our humanity -- how quickly "friendship," "love," and "fidelity" melt away when tested! Such mammals we are!

Be careful or you'll hate yourself for loving this film, as I do.

Worth the Effort.......2007-05-25

Filmgoers seem to either love L'Avventura or hate it. This picture is difficult. Michelangelo Antonioni challenges us. We are forced to work, to have patience, and, most difficult of all, to accept uncertainty. He does not provide us with a groovy soundtrack to compensate for cinematic deficiencies or satisfy the modern movie audience's expectations of full sensory overload. L'Avventura is meant to be watched, really watched. And, in fact, Gene Youngblood, the film critic who supplies the commentary, refers to the protagonist, Claudia, as "the witness." As the viewers we then witness Claudia witnessing the world around her. She is also the only character in the film who sees anything outside of herself, be it art, architecture, landscape, or the fact that her friend, Anna, goes missing on a yachting cruise off the coast of Lisca Bianca, one of the Aeolian islands. She is the only one who cries over the incident. From the second we learn of Anna's disappearance, the plot of L'Avventura seems to be established. With the exception of Claudia, the other crew members make half-hearted attempts to find Anna, but it is obvious they have better things to do because they are rich and have places to go and people to see. It is this indifference that throws the viewer off course, and as the film unfolds we learn that L'Avventura is about something else entirely. Actually the film is about many things, which won't be revealed here.

Michelangelo Antonioni is a Zen-like director in that he depicts life as it is with all its contradictions, simple yet complex, soothing and disturbing, an adventure and a bore, beautiful but lonely. He does not spare us. Even though L'Avventura focuses on a group of wealthy so-called friends, the human condition is the human condition regardless of how much money one has. The major difference, and what Antonioni might be trying to convey, is that those with money can buy diversions, a yacht, an Alfa Romeo, a villa. And since these same people do not work they are forced to buy time. Casual sex buys time, as well as endless parties and fancy dinners. The point is that the more distractions one has the easier it is to bury the inevitable pain of loss, betrayal, fear, loneliness, to name but a few, that are a part of life. However, the pain is still there for these people and maybe even more intensely, given the fact that all they have is a lot of toys but no genuine relationships, passion or meaning in their lives.

Gene Youngblood, referred to earlier, is wonderful as the commentator. He is enlightening and unpretentious. He admits to having seen L'Avventura twelve times in 1961, so he knows his subject. And his love for this film is contagious. For those who have had or are having trouble with the picture, it is recommended to try watching again with the commentary.
The second disc contains testimonials from people who have known Antonioni and/or worked with him, so the viewer can gain further insight into the director's ideas, what he tried to say through his captivating images, and simply learn more about the man himself. There is also a brief segment on the restoration of the film, which is interesting and amazing. Thankfully there are people talented and patient enough to take on this arduous process. How sad it would be to lose such an innovative and exquisite film. Buy this gem as soon as possible.

I HATED THIS FILM this film!.......2007-04-18

After reading all of the reviews, I was so excited to view a great film. However, after about an hour of waiting for something plausible to happen, it just drifted . . . and drifted . . . and meandered . . . and, oh here's a scene: she says "No" to the main character advances, and he ignores her initial rejection . . . and then it meanders more into something so absurd that I started to laugh.

C'mon, people! To all of you 4- and 5-star people, just because a film involves beautiful settings and artsy characters, that does NOT constitute a story!!

I'm sorry, maybe it's me, but message to the character Claudia in the movie: If some cad starts coming onto you while he's simultaneously searching for his fiancee (and your friend) who may very well have drowned, then get a 1000 miles away from this scum . . . and to all viewers watching this exercise in self-indulgence and boredom, get a 1000 miles away from this farce of a film.

I am an enormous fan of stylish, artistic films, but just like those paintings at fancy museums that are being portrayed as elite art but instead are just simple circles and triangles on a blank canvas, this film is NOT art. It's just boring, boring, boring, uninteresting. I could not care about these characters any less, other than poor Anna who disappeared from that island . . . . actually, now that I think about it, Anna was the only smart one there! She jumped off that island as quickly as she could so as get out of this ostentatious, boring, pompous, self-indulgent, uneventful, dreadful, meandering, dumb film!

Way to go, Anna! You're the only one with any sense. Even if you did drown, trust me, that is a better fate than having to survive this DULL film.

So, in case you didn't get my point, let me spell it out once again: I HATED this film so completely! I would rather watch water trickling from my sink. At least that has a story!!

Aaaargh -- I want my 2 hours back! I gave up 2 precious hours of my life to watch this pathetic film.

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