L’Eclisse is the third of an informal trilogy by Antonioni, composed of L’Avventura and La Notte. The films don’t have any storyline or characters that connect them, but are rather similar in style and themes. Monica Vitti returns in an even bigger role, as a bored woman who leaves her fiancé and goes on with an empty life. Alain Delon also has a big role, and he is really good in this, as a stressed out broker.
Actually, compared to L’Avventura, L’Eclisse feels a bit fuller of life, and has some bits of stark sarcastic humour, such as the Italian version of Wall Street and a scene where Monica Vitti and her friend dress up as Native Africans and dance around. But it’s a lot of the same issues that are raised in L’Avventura; isolation, emptiness in life, detachment and alienation. As the film progresses, the protagonist attempts at contact with several other people, and in most cases they end up failing or just drifting from each other. She finally meets a man who she’s interested in, but in similar style as the relationships in L’Avventura, they drift back and forth together. It’s all directed with certain coldness to it, the director always keeps himself distanced from what happens on screen. The films pace also compliments this idea, and goes at its own speed. Again, here Antonioni likes to dwell on landscape and wide shots. The best scenes are the ones between Monica Vitti and Alain Delon, their relationship broadens as the film goes on, but it’s always ambiguous how it will turn out, and as everything else the film leaves this open to interpretation. It’s always refreshing to watch this type of film, it does require the audience to fill in the gaps, and I feel it does create some sort of emotional response.
There’s not a whole lot more I can say on this film, as it is quite similar to L’Avventura, and I have already repeated myself quite a bit. It doesn’t have an elaborate plot, but in structure though it is a bit different from L’Avventura, as it doesn’t have a similar introduction plot as the aforementioned film. The film leads right into the mental journey of the protagonist, and follows her as she goes around the city. One great moment is when she goes to visit her mother who is a stock trader, and the following scene in the stock house, perhaps one of the greatest spectacles I’ve seen on the screen. The film is shot beautifully in black & white, and some of the shots are just incredibly well composed. The directing here is also very strong, and I feel that this film is quite on par with L’Avventura. The final scenes are also fantastic, giving the audience a feeling of hopelessness. In its own unique way, the film is carefully structured so that there’s always a feel of progression, even though the narrative is fractured and doesn’t adhere to a particular plot, and I feel it is a step forward in term of form for Antonioni.
This is much a repeat of the L’Avventura review, these two films are quite similar, and many of the points I’ve talked about for L’Avventura are true for L’Eclisse. I’m not sure which one I like the most, but they are both two giants of cinema, and I will have to see more films by Antonioni, though I’ve already seen Blow-up (1966) and The Passenger (1975), both of which I’d also recommend.
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