I have to admit that I have a rather complicated relationship with Antonioni’s masterpiece L’Avventura. On the one hand, it’s slow, it’s dense, and I’m still not completely satisfied with my understanding of certain parts of the film. On the other hand, ever since my first viewing during my sophomore year in college L’Avventura has been in my head. I have never forgotten or, indeed recovered from, the impact that it has had on my own personal approach to filmmaking.

L’Avventura premiered in 1960 at the Cannes film festival and from the first there has been a distinct split among audiences. People either love it or hate it. While I’ve encountered many films that you either love or hate, never have I found one where the split is so decisive. It’s not just an issue of love or hate, it’s a very vocal love or a very vociferous hate. In 1960 it won a Special Jury Prize even while the audiences were booing it.

The conflict, I think, arises from Antonioni’s unforgiving critique of his society and existential approach to story telling. The film can be uncomfortable to watch. The plot is just incredibly slow to develop and it never goes very far. A group of friends, upper-class individuals with nothing to do, travel by boat to the isolated Lisca Bianca. They approach their outing with ennui and everything they do seems hollow. Sometime during the trip Anna (Lea Massari) disappears. The friends search the rock but there is no sign of her. She has simply vanished.

The rest of the film follows Anna’s best friend Claudia (the beautiful Monica Vitti) and Anna’s fiancé Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti) as they half-heartedly follow Anna’s trail. Sandro is more interested in seducing Claudia than he is in finding Anna and eventually he succeeds. Shortly after Claudia has given in to Sandro’s advances she discovers he has betrayed her, she confronts him, and the film ends. There is never any satisfying conclusion to the search, they never find Anna, we never find out what will become of Claudia, we simply get “The End”.

That lack of a satisfying ending alone is enough to turn many viewers off. Combine that with the over two hour running time and it’s easy to see why many find L’Avventura to be boring and pointless. I’ll even readily admit that it is not an easily accessible film. I agree that the characters are almost all shallow and unlikable. All but Claudia, who I find to be if not sympathetic then at least understandable. Of course, Claudia is an outsider, nouveau riche, dragged into a world that she is not truly a part of. She becomes nothing more than a replacement for the lost Anna. A replacement who is herself easily replaceable.

Now while I do understand where many would not like this film and I really can’t blame people for that, I think that looking solely to the plot and the characters is to do L’Avventura a great injustice. The characters are not meant to be anything more than superficial and the plot is not meant to be anything more than what it is. The emptiness is exactly the point.

When discussing L’Avventura, critics frequently credit Antonioni with creating a new visual language, something the Jury at Cannes also acknowledged. Personally, for me L’Avventura is the quintessential example of Cinema. While it is impossible to separate film from other artistic media, film is not theater, it is not photography, it is not anything but film. Antonioni embraces the uniqueness of film and with L’Avventura creates something that is not theater on celluloid or photography with movement. His visuals are incredibly beautiful and moving. He embraces the stark landscape of Lisca Bianca. More than being simply aesthetically pleasing, the images speak. The mise-en-scene mirrors the character’s internal lives and the shots tell at least half of the story.

L’Avventura’s story truly happens on a layer below the narrative. While the narrative is certainly a part of telling the story it is not the sole driving force. The visuals are just as much a part of it and arguably more important.

The reason that L’Avventura has stayed with me more than any other film I have seen is because of the emotional reaction I have to it. The experience is truly visceral and while there are certain aspects that on a surface level I do not understand, certain feelings that I am unable to articulate, on a deeper level I understand it completely. It’s more than just the stunning visuals that affect me it is the story itself. It’s the reasons why the characters can be nothing more than the superficial beings that they are. The reason why we can never have anything more satisfying than “The End”.

Antonioni is telling the story of a generation lost. It’s the story of people left with nothing to believe in. They do not truly understand the significance of their sexuality; they do not know their responsibilities. They have no guide to follow; nothing has meaning. They want to feel alive and they want to be in love but they don’t know how. They are superficial because there is nothing else for them to be. They think that they want love but they don’t really understand what that means.

Sure, a lot of people won’t like it. However I have to recommend it to everyone. Even if you dislike it you should see it at least one. In my mind L’Avventura is one of the most important films ever shot. You’re free to disagree with me but anyone seriously interested in the history of cinema or filmmaking should at least give it a chance. It is, if nothing else, a superb example of the true potential of filmmaking and of what Cinema could be.

If I ever make a film even half has good as L’Avventura I will be satisfied.

Running Time: 145 min
Italian with English Subtitles

Recommended:
Yes