L'Avventura - Criterion Collection
by Michelangelo Antonioni
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dominique Blanchar, Gabriele Ferzetti, Lea Massari, Monica Vitti, Renzo RicciDirector: Michelangelo Antonioni
Brand: Image Entertainment
Cinematographer: Aldo Scavarda
Writer: Michelangelo Antonioni
Editor: Eraldo Da Roma
Producer: Amato Pennasilico
Writer: Elio Bartolini
Writer: Tonino Guerra
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 141 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-06-05
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion
Movie Reviews of L'Avventura - Criterion Collection
Movie Review: If you can't out-act a post...
Summary: 2 Stars
On its initial screening at Cannes, this movie was heartily booed. When I finally build that time machine, one of my first stops will be to go back and join that chorus of boos - lustily even. The movie then turned around and won some pretentious prize because the judges figgered, Hey, if WE don't understand it, it MUST be genius. And of course the legions of the pretentious have fallen right in line.
First off, the main thing that's praised is the cinematography, which is unquestionably praiseworthy. However, you can get genius composition by attending the show of a good photographer, if that's what you are after. Hopefully, his/her compositions won't be repeatedly soiled by people bemoaning how terrible it is to be beautiful and rich.
So then the note cribbers will invariably move on to talk about the juxtapositions of framing. What the...? When did a character framed in a doorway become symbolic of man's inner struggle for meaning - especially if done to death? Thought process must go, Antonioni's a genius, therefore this must only SEEM static and dull. Must...uncover...genius.
But really, I could have put up with the lack of anything happening if every frame hadn't been filled with the non-tension between the Beauty and the Beast. Seriously, what kind of wunderland of mid-life crisis must 50's/60's Italian cinema have been when practically every film features some guy in his 40s+ diddling some hot chick in her 20s. Not so bad, but said hot chicks are invariably DESPERATE for the attentions of 40s-troll-man whereas advance-aged boy-man just doesn't know if he's into it or not. Welkommen aus fantasialand! And this movie is the worst of the bunch because that is pretty much ALL that happens. Implication is that hot blonde needs Don Barzini so much that she can't resist his manifest non-charms, when for at least 2 hours your brain is rebelling against the insanity, screaming Just go back to Rome! Can't stand it.
Then there's more unlikable people doing annoying things, an Antonioni staple apparently. By the end I was desperately hoping that the cringe-inducing mimes from Blow Up would show up to rescue some form of meaningful absurdity out of the non-event that is this movie.
Summary of L'Avventura - Criterion Collection
A girl mysteriously disappears on a yachting trip. While her lover and her best friend search for her across Italy, they begin an affair. Antonioni's penetrating study of the idle upper class offers stinging observations on spiritual isolation and the many meanings of love. Criterion is proud to present this milestone of film grammar in a new Special Edition double-disc set.Considered by many to be his masterpiece, L'Avventura positioned Michelangelo Antonioni as an international talent. What appears to be a search for a missing person is actually an examination of alienation and self-discovery found along a voyage through the morally decadent world of the idle rich. Less concerned with a smooth plotline, Antonioni tells his story through the use of symbolic images and flawless character development. Using 'real time' camera shots and rich, landscape imagery, Michelangelo Antonioni creates an unpredictable world where nothing is ever resolved. Ironically, what makes L'Avventura so unpredictable is the high level of realism portrayed by each character and their environments. This isn't your packaged, formulaic film with a happy ending. A tough one to watch but well worth it...and it gets better and better with repeat viewings. L'Avventura is quintessential Antonioini. Not to be missed. --Rob Bracco
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