Sunday, August 29, 2010

Film: Antonioni's "L'Avventura" (1960)



This film is fantastic, every shot brilliantly composed, every scene filled with mysteries forgotten and unsolved amidst characters filled with privileged, bored, and repressed passion. Antonioni's exterior shots are what carry the narrative, but I chose this interior scene to share for three reasons.

1.) The reframing of Claudia (Monica Vitti) in the window, looking out at nature, an echo of her earlier in the film, on the island.
2.) The positioning of the artist's studio within the film (pandering, privilege, male gaze, etc).
3.) The nervous, terrifying desperation of Giulia (Dominique Blanchar)...

And thus I have found a new favorite exchange in cinema:

Giulia: What more do I need to do now to be left alone?
Claudia: Nothing, you just need to shut the door, Giulia.

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