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L'Eclisse - (1962) - Antonioni
Afflictions
The set-up? There isn't much of story. A young translator and her boss end their engagement after a long night of talking it all out, then she quickly begins doomed summer romance.
If the story happens at all, it "happens" in the camera work---and in glorious black and white. I was immediately hooked by the Antonioni's placement of the actors. The framing of the shots. Their posing. The reverse angles. Vittoria's (Monica Vitti) gently teased and tousled hair. The only sound, the whirring of the oscillating table fan. In this first scene, there's a kind of commodification going on. Rich and successful, the man furnishes his home well. But this terrible clutter, is clearly his life. He is, in the parlance of our day, an alpha consumer. A man is clearly defined by what he buys. And not wanting to become just another object she gently retreats from him. Although she herself admits to sharing these same convictions.
Her new lover is also rich and successful. As a commodities trader, Piero (Alain Delon), is also man of his times. But since everything can be bought or replaced in the blink on an eye, nothing has any real value in his world. After a minor market "correction". Vittoria asks him where did all those millions of dollars go after the stock market tanked? He shrugs his shoulders.
Although both her love interests propose marriage, Vittoria is skittish around relationships, with the former she's fallen out of love and with the latter, she never quite fell into it. She's stumbling towards something genuine, something real. And I have to confess I enjoy Vitti's arty dishevelment and brooding alienation.
There's a wonderful strangeness to the film. A feeling that the grasp of these people no longer includes the natural world. They live somewhat beyond it. Although great on paper, these man made structures aren't quite conducive for fostering human interactions. The walls and the tastefully decorated rooms conspire to limit and restrict them.
There's a lot of subtle humor in the film. The opening scene felt like darkest night, then she throws open the curtains to reveal it's actually morning. Several times during the film, someone is framed by a window from the outside ... then a real person will walk by, reversing what we thought was real.
Imagery? For the number of apartment blocks in this development, the streets are almost barren. The boulevards are so empty, any other presence is almost immediately symbolic.
The moment of silence where the stock exchange becomes a Mausoleum.
Near the end, Vittoria and Piero steal a tryst together in his office. In parting, they pledge eternal love and plan to meet later that night and tomorrow and the next day after that. To rangle a quiet moment with her, Piero's disconnected all the office phones, unplugging from his world to be with her. Yet as the Camera follows their parting. Upstairs, he walks around the office, replacing the receivers. Vittoria's progress down the stairwell slows, and she lingers near the front entrance. Piero appears lost in thought at his desk. She hears the phones begin to come to life, then she steps outside, revealing they have in fact called it quits and will never see each other again.
Then one of the weirdness endings I've seen in a while. Incredibly, as if the camera had felt the spark of their brief connection---it keeps their appointment later than night. The camera goes to their special place, the unfinished building beside the striped cross walk where they first kissed. The camera also visits other places they've been hoping to see them, then patiently returns, waiting over several days and nights for these two lost lovers to reappear.
Afflictions
The set-up? There isn't much of story. A young translator and her boss end their engagement after a long night of talking it all out, then she quickly begins doomed summer romance.
If the story happens at all, it "happens" in the camera work---and in glorious black and white. I was immediately hooked by the Antonioni's placement of the actors. The framing of the shots. Their posing. The reverse angles. Vittoria's (Monica Vitti) gently teased and tousled hair. The only sound, the whirring of the oscillating table fan. In this first scene, there's a kind of commodification going on. Rich and successful, the man furnishes his home well. But this terrible clutter, is clearly his life. He is, in the parlance of our day, an alpha consumer. A man is clearly defined by what he buys. And not wanting to become just another object she gently retreats from him. Although she herself admits to sharing these same convictions.
Her new lover is also rich and successful. As a commodities trader, Piero (Alain Delon), is also man of his times. But since everything can be bought or replaced in the blink on an eye, nothing has any real value in his world. After a minor market "correction". Vittoria asks him where did all those millions of dollars go after the stock market tanked? He shrugs his shoulders.
Although both her love interests propose marriage, Vittoria is skittish around relationships, with the former she's fallen out of love and with the latter, she never quite fell into it. She's stumbling towards something genuine, something real. And I have to confess I enjoy Vitti's arty dishevelment and brooding alienation.
There's a wonderful strangeness to the film. A feeling that the grasp of these people no longer includes the natural world. They live somewhat beyond it. Although great on paper, these man made structures aren't quite conducive for fostering human interactions. The walls and the tastefully decorated rooms conspire to limit and restrict them.
There's a lot of subtle humor in the film. The opening scene felt like darkest night, then she throws open the curtains to reveal it's actually morning. Several times during the film, someone is framed by a window from the outside ... then a real person will walk by, reversing what we thought was real.
Imagery? For the number of apartment blocks in this development, the streets are almost barren. The boulevards are so empty, any other presence is almost immediately symbolic.
The moment of silence where the stock exchange becomes a Mausoleum.
Near the end, Vittoria and Piero steal a tryst together in his office. In parting, they pledge eternal love and plan to meet later that night and tomorrow and the next day after that. To rangle a quiet moment with her, Piero's disconnected all the office phones, unplugging from his world to be with her. Yet as the Camera follows their parting. Upstairs, he walks around the office, replacing the receivers. Vittoria's progress down the stairwell slows, and she lingers near the front entrance. Piero appears lost in thought at his desk. She hears the phones begin to come to life, then she steps outside, revealing they have in fact called it quits and will never see each other again.
Then one of the weirdness endings I've seen in a while. Incredibly, as if the camera had felt the spark of their brief connection---it keeps their appointment later than night. The camera goes to their special place, the unfinished building beside the striped cross walk where they first kissed. The camera also visits other places they've been hoping to see them, then patiently returns, waiting over several days and nights for these two lost lovers to reappear.