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:

Unsolved Mystery | Very Little Dialogue | Yacht | Italy | Sicily

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:

The Adventure (International: English title) (literal title) (UK)
The Fling (International: English title)

Runtime:

145 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)

Meaningless Lives in a Dull Romance

The wealthy Anna (Lea Massari) is not sure about her feelings with her lover Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti). While in a yacht trip with her upper class friends including her best friend Claudia (Monica Vitti) in the Sicily coast, the group decides to visit a desert volcanic island. When the weather changes and they have to leave the island, they note that Anna has vanished. Claudia, Sandro and another friend stay in the island during the night trying to find Anna, while the rest of the group returns. On the next morning, they bring the coast guard and Anna is not found. Along the next days, Sandro and Claudia search Anna in the most different places in Italy and develop an attraction for each other, becoming lovers.

"L' Avventura"initially impresses with the magnificent cinematography and the beauty of Monica Vitti. In most of the scenes, there are characters interacting in the background, and sometimes the camera shifts the take to 180o and the character that was distant on the back turns to the first plane, with the other ones in the back. The dull romance about meaningless lives is absolutely original and the viewer never can guess what might happen with the characters on the next scene. With a simple storyline, the screenplay discloses amoral characters without feeling of friendship and any preoccupation other then having good time in their empty lives, living the present the best way life can offer. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Aventura" ("The Adventure")