L'Eclisse (1962)

A while back, I saw L'Avventura, at the suggestion of a friend. I was entirely transfixed by it, and it moved me greatly, although I couldn't make much sense out of the subtleties of it. After re-watching it, then watching the commentary, and reading many posts about it, I have a good understanding of it. It's now one of my favorite films of all-time. La Notte, the second film in Antonioni's informal trilogy, I really liked as well. Maybe it was because I didn't spend enough time with it that I didn't fall completely in love with it, but Ingmar Bergman did. I saw and loved Blow-Up, one of Antonioni's later masterworks. Needless to say, I have a great appreciation for Antonioni, so I was excited to watch L'Eclisse. I wasn't disappointed in the least.

So, in L'Eclisse, there's essentially little-to-no plot. There are things that happen, things that are important for one reason or another, but nothing resembling a traditional storyline. For some reason, despite this, I couldn't help being enthralled by it. I think it's due to the emotions and feelings it evokes in the viewer, and Antonioni's vision in general. However, the fact that there's not much in terms of a traditional plot helps the film greatly. It unfolds at a very leisurely pace, which allows the feeling and mood to wash over the audience. The characters, Vitti's in particular, are roaming around, drifting, searching around this modern world for someone or something to connect to. Essential, the film roams, drifts and searches along with her. The audience is encouraged to tag along, searching for our own connections in this world.

Obviously, the key Antonioni themes are on display here; loneliness, isolation, malaise, alienation, finding one's self in an increasingly-modernized world. Antonioni uses his craft in a way that displays these ideas and themes without bludgeoning the viewer over the head with them. Every framing, sound effect, camera move, every part of the performance, every little nuance is designed carefully to stylistically express the feelings of the characters, and to make the viewer relate.

One thing I noticed, as in Blow-Up, is the use of reflections in the film. In Blow-Up, I think it served to symbolize a reflection of reality, to disorient the viewer and make them wonder if what they're seeing is real. L'Eclisse's themes are completely different, so I have to wonder what the reflections are supposed to signify here. Maybe it's just an Antonioni trademark? (I haven't seen L'Avventura in a while, so I'd have to go back and look for reflections there.) Maybe, it's one way of showing isolation. In the opening scene, Vittoria stands in front of windows on two different occasions, both closed, displaying her reflection. It's a way of reminding the viewer that there is glass there, that the window is not opened, which isolates her character, cuts her off from the outside world. There are also two scenes later on where Vittoria opens a glass door between her and Piero. They kiss one another through the glass, obviously cutting one off from the other. Though, there are plenty of other reflections in the film which aren't due to windows, so maybe I'm wrong.

I love the Antonioni's framing in the film, and I think Gianni de Vananzo, the photographer, is owed a great debt. Like the scenes I described above, every shot is framed in a way that isolates the characters, specifically Vitti's. Shortly after they meet, Vittoria and Piero are framed on opposite sides of a giant pillar. Many times, characters are photographed on opposite sides of the same frame, exemplifying the physical distance between the two, and implying the emotional distance as well.

Of course, the world that Antonioni's characters inhabit is increasingly mechanized and is perpetually under construction, becoming more and more modernized. This is shown, obviously in the architecture, but also by the characters. In the opening scene, a static shot of Vitti's character is held while a oscillating fan turns back and forth, blowing her hair back slightly. Houses are inhabited by appliances, which characters use without a second thought. Heck, Piero even shows another man at the stock exchange his new hand-held fan, but the older man shrugs it off. Even the stock market itself is an element of modern business, and its presence on the film and in Vittoria's life is increasingly overbearing.

I'm sure that there's plenty I've missed or misinterpreted here. But, I suppose that's the joy of film, interpreting it for yourself and studying it so you can better interpret these things on your own. While I love the mood of the film and Antonioni's framing and mise-en-scene, I'm almost completely stumped as to how it really works, how certain things effect me the way that they do. L'Eclisse, like most of Antonioni's work, is a great film to dive into, to analyze and interpret on one's own.