L'Avventura (1961)

Great Film overall

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Best movie ever!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

If you have never seen the luminous Italian actress Monica Vitti in a film, you simply must rent this one. Imagine Faith Hill with a Neapolitan profile, a Catholic (as opposed to Protestant) guilt complex and an earthy, almost boyish exuberance. L'Avventura, translated in English to mean The Adventure, is the story of a woman (Vitti) who joins her best friend, her best friend's lover, and a gaggle of wealthy Italians on a boat trip near Sicily. The best friend mysteriously disappears during an excursion to a barren island in the Mediterranean. The remainder of the film involves Vitti's search for her friend, as clues point to the possibility that she left the island on a boat and is spotted, via missing-persons and newspaper reports, here and there on the mainland. Vitti is intermittently joined by the misplaced woman's lover (Gabriele Frezetti), with whom she falls in love against her better judgment.L'Avventura and La Dolce Vita were released in the same year and have similar themes: they both focus on the emptiness of the very wealthy and a fruitless search for sensual pleasure. Antonioni's film captures the milieu with a unique style, oddly framed camera angles, full depth of focus in every shot, a meandering pace and virtually no music. The film does not have a plot in the conventional sense, and to me seemed like two stories in one. Essentially, it is the study of a woman drowning in an emotionally bankrupt social strata. Lonely, gentle readers will no doubt see their own emotional bankruptcy reflected in this brilliant Italian masterpiece.

This is my third Antonioni film after deserto rosso and Zabriskie point. As I was fascinated with the first two, I opted to go for another one.It was mostly the unconventional plot, which especially attracted me to l'avventura. One of the main protagonists disappearing mysteriously quite at the beginning, a fact that later on in the movie is almost forgotten and never resolved, this was so unusual that I really had to see this one. Considering this, I was of course in a completely different situation than the first nighters, who did not have this information and hence probably were waiting for the whole rest of the film for the riddle to be resolved. As their expectations were not met, the film apparently was being barracked at its premiere.My expectations, however, still were a bit discharged, because the lost person is not as much forgotten in the movie as most movie comments suggest. After the disappearance, there can always be felt a certain indisposition among the new lovers. Due to this fact, the film to me is not so negative since after all, people in the movie still have their qualms whether it is right to forget so soon … There is, of course, a certain decadency in the life style of the boat trip society, but a life in riches usually gives this impression to the ones, who do not have the luxury of being idle from financial sorrows. Moreover, the lush environments in Sicily (beautifully captured by Mr. Antonioni's long takes) also contribute to this impression and to the mindset of enjoying life.What was it then what Mr. Antonioni motivated for this kind of movie? This can only be a guess but I think that Mr. Antonioni was mostly interested in showing that moral values not necessarily hold if people are exposed to emotional excitement in stress situations, especially with the growing importance of individualism. Confusion and opportunity make the thief, so to say. Probably he also wanted to show how unimportant each of us becomes once he has left the scenery, as life always needs to go on. This may not be a pleasant thought but it cannot really be denied.Moreover, the flawless performances by Gabriele Ferzetti and a fascinating Monica Vitti alongside with the beauty of its camera work make this movie overall to a gem, that has to be recommended to all those who are looking for a movie that, for its loose ends, probably would no longer be produced nowadays.

A tepid wandering film about a group of people boating to an island in Italy. One of the members of their party disappears and they search for her, bring in rescue to assist in the search. Later, the best friend of the girl who disappeared and the vanished girl's lover become sexually and romantically interested in each other.Not exactly a fascinating premise for a film. People have compared this to "The Passenger" but I see no comparison. "The Passenger" is fascinating, mesmerizing and really pulls you in to the journey. Here, we are reminded we are the audience watching these long, drawn out scenes that could have and should have been trimmed before the film was released. No wonder people started yelling at the film at Cannes. There is a dullness to the scenes and they linger way too long.Vitti shows conflict over her feelings for Sandro, the vanished girl's husband to be but so what? It isn't enough to keep people interested. In the final scene they both accept their fate. He's a playboy and she will accept all his flaws. Yawn, 2 1/2 hours later.

This film is simply fantastic. Is definitely very different from what I thought it would be like. "Is actually a story about the disappearance of a girl, even that culminates in an odd romantic relationship between her boyfriend and her best friend. "*One of the very best screenplays ever written in film history. *Is an extremely well written film, with very well thought dialogs and with a very creative form of developing characters. And everyone who watched it knows the narrative is far from being conventional. I guess it must've been very groundbreaking back in 1960. Despite the film being more about the character's dramatic relationships, L'Avventura is often very funny as well. All the males of the film (mostly 40 year old men) took that very well done stare at Claudia's (Monica Vitti) legs, be her just walking on the streets or in a luxurious mansion. I also found weird that the protagonist looked so much older than her,and he wasn't attractive at all. Go figure."*Interesting from a visual standpoint.* Is also a very well shot film, I mean, really well shot, despite not being a very well lightened film, the placement of subjects, scene's profundity, the narrativity in every shot etc is very unusual and cleverly done. The final shot is a prime example: Claudia puts her hand in Sandro's back. This is the most powerful and intimal moment between both characters in the film, because is when finally Claudia understands Sandro, who fell apart and shows his angst. This scene was very oddly crafted, because we only got to see their by behind, in a wide shot, and they are not the focus of the scene. Is what I would call "subversion of filmmaking'. The film also ends in a very unconventional manner anyway, with a very abrupt cut. Which kinda fits the film overall atmosphere of indecision and weirdness. *Acting was underwhelming. *The film got a few flaws though. Besides a few goofs in the set's lights, the acting isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread. In fact, far from that. The actors ranged from decent to bad, but none of them I recall being good. Monica Vitti was certainly a stunning beauty but not very talented. *The use of music...* To finish, the use of music. It was weird. That main theme is certainly very good, and very catchy, I admit, but there were a few times, specifically in the ending, that the soundtrack became similar to one used in a psychological horror film, and added to these quiet final 15 minutes, resulted in a haunting atmosphere. Which was odd, since there wasn't really anything to justify the use of such soundtrack. Conclusion: *Is a masterpiece and definitely a must watch for anyone. *