L'Avventura

This was one of the most interesting viewing experiences I've had. L’Avventura is certainly an adventure, but it's not at all the one I expected. I bought this film from the Criterion Collection a while back along with the other films in the "trilogy" and was excited to finally get around to watching it the other day. I knew absolutely nothing about it, but since it was 2.5 hours I decided to read the synopsis on the back of the disc case. The general idea is that a woman goes missing on an island. Her lover and her best friend decide to go looking for her. With nothing but that description I expected something akin to a Hitchcock movie which honestly didn't sound too appealing to me. I mostly like Hitchcock's films, but I've gotten bored and uninterested on occasion during viewings. This was also my first film by Antonioni so I had nothing to compare it to. It didn't take long for me to realize that my prediction of this movie was completely off. There is a mystery for the first quarter or so of the film, but it becomes very clear after that that our two leads played by Monica Vitti and Gabriele Ferzetti have different plans. The awkward and inappropriate tension between the two is there. The two have chemistry even if we feel like they shouldn't. As a viewer I thought "how could they possibly be in love at a time like this?". I asked this from beginning to end strongly feeling that such a surface level relationship founded on nothing but attraction would never work out. However, Antonioni managed to not only convince me that this relationship could work, but reminded me that stuff like this happens all the time outside of film. It made me think of toxic relationships I've been in, friends who've had similar experiences, people I know who have cheated on partners. You name it I thought about it. It would be very easy to write this off as another "pretentious foreign film" and it seems that many people at the premiere did. It's understandable due to the slow and often frustrating plot, but when that works it's right up my alley. And it works here. Those that prefer a dialogue-driven plot will not find it here. It's the camerawork doing the heavy lifting. There are many slow pans across landscapes and architecture which are romantic in and of themselves. Giving us time to explore the scenery and get a sense of where the story takes place makes us more familiar with it, but it also made me feel like there was the chance that Anna was out there watching and judging "us" for being in this relationship. I also appreciated the unconventional camera angles looking at our character's backs refusing to let us see emotions or expressions. It adds to the mystery in another sense. For a vast majority of the film we follow either Claudia, Sandro, or both of them. You become a part of their affair and can't help but feel some of the guilt even though, to them, Anna's long dead despite her disappearance being left unsolved. I've only scratched the surface of L'Avventura. Adapting to a modern world, the different kinds of love that exist, romance disintegrating, and alienation. It's amazing how much Antonioni is able to convey with this complex relationship. It's no wonder this is seen as a masterpiece by so many today. *List: 2025 Goals & Favorite Films* *Last Review: Rome, Open City*