Avventura, L' (1960)

Director:

Michelangelo Antonioni

Writers:

Michelangelo Antonioni (screenplay)
Michelangelo Antonioni (story)

Release Date:

4 March 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance

Plot:

A woman disappears during a Mediterranean boating trip. But during the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other.

Plot Keywords:

Rome Italy | Sicily | Very Little Dialogue | Italy | Yacht

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Gabriele Ferzetti	...	Sandro
Monica Vitti	...	Claudia
Lea Massari	...	Anna
Dominique Blanchar	...	Giulia
Renzo Ricci	...	Anna's Father
James Addams	...	Corrado
Dorothy De Poliolo	...	Gloria Perkins
Lelio Luttazzi	...	Raimondo
Giovanni Petrucci	...	Prince Goffredo
Esmeralda Ruspoli	...	Patrizia
Jack O'Connell	...	Old man on the island
Angela Tommasi Di Lampedusa	...	The Princess
Franco Cimino
Prof. Cucco	...	Ettore
Giovanni Danesi

Also Known As:

Isola, L' (Italy) (working title)
The Adventure (International: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:VM14 | Argentina:16 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (re-rating) (1995) | UK:X (original rating) | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Aeolian Islands, Messina, Sicily, Italy

Company:

Cino del Duca

Trivia:

First part of the unofficial "Incommunicability Trilogy" with Notte, La (1961) and Eclisse, L' (1962). Michelangelo Antonioni didn't make the three movies as a trilogy, but cinema historians have called it so since then.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the sequence in which Sandro and the newspaper reporter cross a street, the shadows of the camera and the crew are clearly and prolongedly visible on the actors and on the street surface.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ritorno a Lisca Bianca (1983) (TV)

A solution that ends with a compelling mystery.

Using very little dialogue or music (virtually none of the latter), this is a smartly constructed work that readily reveals its character's psyches without the use of voiceover. Instead it relies on effective, rule-breaking camera work, visual metaphors, poignant dialogue and brilliant acting (mannerisms and behavior). The cinematography is gorgeous, and there are no wasted shots here. Every frame is a painting and a clue about the inner workings of the minds of its characters -- conveying their moods, theirs thoughts . . . their next move. Ingenious!

This is one of those films that appears to be one thing in the beginning, but turns out to be something else altogether. Antonioni pulls a fast one on us, but as he effectively uses one of storytelling's most common and powerful devices (the allure of the mystery), we're already in over our heads, utterly engrossed, when the ruse becomes apparent. This is a film whose story begins like a mystery, but is in fact a solution that ends with a compelling mystery.

8 out of 10