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L'Avventura - Criterion Collection | Year: 1961 Directed: - Michelangelo Antonioni Actors/Actresses: - Gabriele Ferzetti - Monica Vitti - Lea Massari - Dominique Blanchar An adventure in moviemaking. Monumentally influential film from 1960, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. A disaffected group of idle, rich Italians take a cruise to the volcanic islands south of Sicily. After they pause at one of the islands, one of their number, a beautiful young woman named Anna, suddenly vanishes. Her lover (Gabriele Ferzetti) and her best friend (Monica Vitti) scour the island for the missing girl -- no trace. Like any man in his right mind, Ferzetti's character Sandro almost immediately finds himself attracted to Vitti's Claudia -- she's taken aback at first, but only on a superficial level. The movie then chronicles the search for missing Anna -- and the burgeoning affair between Sandro and Claudia -- back in Italy. The rest you can see for yourself. What *L'Avventura* did for cinema was to shine light on the interiors of the human heart in a way that movies had been afraid to attempt before. The obvious charge one can lay against Antonioni's masterpiece is that it's slow and dull for that very reason -- a film character thinking about something doesn't exactly constitute action-packed cinema. Do understand that this movie is not for all tastes . . . but if you're reading this review, you're probably already curious and are considering buying the movie, to which I say, Take the plunge. *L'Avventura* is about ennui in our modern life -- ennui in our personal lives, ennui in our professional lives. Go ahead, snicker. It's easy to dismiss the subject as pretentious. Perhaps it IS pretentious -- but can you really deny the relevance of the subject matter? Can any man -- deep down in his heart of hearts -- not identify with Sandro, an overgrown boy unhappy in love and work? Can any woman not be impressed with Claudia's inner growth from shallow party-girl at the beginning of the movie to the Rock of Gibraltar she evolves into at the end? *L'Avventura* is a grown-up mast everyone out there buy an album (or two!). Great songs include: Kim Deal, Patricia, Blues brilliant emotional breakdown alone in the den of horrible house she fails to sale. Slapping herself and screaming "shut up you baby" before slipping back into her role as the domineering control freak is fascinating!) The lucious Thora Birch also turns what could have been a one-note character (Janie) into a tour-de-force of of teen angst and isolation. When she finally succumbs to the charms of the quiet,curious and supremely secure boy next door Ricky Fitts (the superb and command e n versions on DVD Buy L Avventura at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on L Avventura Search with the Priority Search Engine on L Avventura This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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