Rating: 
Summary: L'Avventura
Review: This is typical Antionioni's Italian boring film.
There are two kind of Antonioni:Antonioni Italian,and late Antonioni,who created Zabriskie Point,one of the best films of all times.Don't watch Avantura.It's waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth the price for the commentary alone
Review: I saw this film the first time without commentary, obviously, and was really taken aback by it. Everything that has already been said on here about the beautiful images in every frame, and the freshness of approach, etc., I agree with completely. Viewing it from a "normal" movie-watching perspective, the story is very interesting, but a little slow; I probably would have given it four stars. But the entirley new perspective and enthusiasm that is provided by Gene Youngblood's commentary really elevated the film to a higher level for me. The film definitely stands on its own as a great work of art, but the Criterion edition helped me to adjust to Antonioni's style and language much quicker. A great film, transfer, special edition, and commentary. This is well worth the cost if you're looking for something interesting and new. I know this isn't the most helpful review, but I just wanted to add another positive vote for "L'Avventura."
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good
Review: I have no intention of providing a synopsis of this movie. I'm sure other reviews, including the editorial one, will supply what you need to know in terms of the plot. This movie is very much a film student's movie. Watching it with the audio commentary on, I feel like I'm at school. I really enjoy what Antonioni does with the visual symbolism of the movie. Like Fellini, he lets the pictures drive the story. I saw the film several years ago and felt like the original viewers at Cannes must have felt--what the...? Antonioni hooks us in by making us believe that this is a story about a missing woman, when it is really about the relationships people have with one another. If you are looking for something comparable to "The Vanishing," you have come to the wrong place. The pictures of the movie are beautiful and as is noted in the commentary, one could actually click pause and study each frame as if it were a photograph. This is visual directing on par with Lynch and Fellini. Antonioni is driving film into high art territory with this one and if you are willing to go with him, he can take you some interesting places. But it is a very calculated ride and disecting the movie in these terms makes me wonder if it is truly worth it. The film does not function that well on any other level. The plot makes little sense and is actually a bit annoying at times unless you are focusing on the structure of the scenes, the frames and staging. If these are the things you really like about Art House and Italian cinema, you will probably enjoy this movie. You should know these things going in. I hope this helps you make a decision.
Rating: 
Summary: Is it more like watching paint dry, or Chinese water torture
Review: It's never a good sign, in my opinion, when reviews of a film spend so much time denigrating the intelligence of people who didn't like it. It really isn't necessary to postulate that disliking this film is a sign of attention deficit disorder or subnormal mental ability. It might be more productive to say that these types of story values appeal to a limited group of viewers. L'Avventura represented an extreme of "plotless" Italian neo-realism. Of course, it isn't really plotless at all, but the script certainly isn't structured like anything audiences today are used to seeing. While this has its value, it is not for everybody, and a lot of people will be left feeling as if they've been through one of those nightmares from which one repeatedly tries to awake. This is certainly an important film for film students to see (which is why I saw it,) because if you fit into this category it will help sharpen your own ideas about what kind of movies you want to be involved with. It led me to decide that there's got to be SOMETHING between this and "Terminator 6." However, I'd still give it two stars because it did succeed at what it set out to do, and the cinematography was (of course) wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: Great DVD, too bad the movie doesn't hold up
Review: I've seen reviews where this movie is described as one of the best of all time, but I have to disagree. This movie does not hold up today. The film is too long, the actor's performances are not up to par (I don't recall Antonioni having good relationships with his actors) and while some of the cinematography is excellent, I find the direction and shots in La Notte to be much more dramatic and breathtaking, despite being filmed in less exotic locations. The movie is uninteresting and boring through too many scenes. It could have been an hour shorter and been slightly better. I've read in a few other reviews about praising the commentary on this DVD, I feel this is the most boring commentary I've ever heard in a DVD. While this is definitely not my favorite Antonioni film, it does have it's moments for me and during what I feel are some of the best shots and scenes in the movie, Mr. Youngblood is rambling on about everything else under the sun except for what is being shown on the screen at that time. His voice is very dreary and monotonous and as I watched the film, every time I switched to the commentary, my infant son screamed when he heard his voice, so that has to tell you something.
Rating:
Summary: A Truly Great Film; A Super DVD package
Review: Some people seem to think "L'Avventura" is Antonioni's first 'Great' film. No Way! Antonioni was already up there with the all-time greats with his first two Fifties masterpieces "Chronicle of a Love Affair" and "Le Amiche," (Glad to say "Le Amiche" is now available in a very good transfer on IMAGE DVD with removeable subtitles in all its rapid-fire Italian dialogue glory which you can freeze and study at your own pace) although he didn't become quite the Revolutionary of Cinema until about the time of "Il Grido (The Cry)" which hinted at everything that soon crystalized on the magnificent trilogy of "L'Avventura," "La Notte," and "The Eclipse," & later even expanded into an almost romantic and transcendent view of the future (through individuation & discarding of outdated myths and customs) in the vastly underrated artistic coup-d'etat of American cinema & all of American commercial culture: the awesome post-Hippie tour-de-force "Zabriskie Point" (a multi-million dollar commercial disaster that severely crippled Antonioni's later ability to raise financing). The superb ultra-dense and illuminating commentary on the first disc of Criterion's "L'Avvenura" by Gene Youngblood (author of the late '60s cinematic theory classic "Expanded Cinema"; for a different take on Antonioni, that goes even deeper than what Youngblood has to say on this disc without becoming didactic or pretentious in any 'film-or-art-school gibberish' way, you cannot do much better than William Arrowsmith's long essay in "Antonioni: Poet of Images";), that alone, along with the pristine transfer of the film itself (only one negligable line in the final party scene which they've reduced to an absolute minimum) would easily be worth the price of 4 movie tickets.
But you also get a second disc which doesn't have too much on it, but what it does have is fantastic: a rare 1 hour mid-'60s French documentary on Antonioni & Jack Nicholson's passionate reading of 3 of Antonioni's most insightful essays (and later a recalling of a hilarious incident on the set of "The Passenger"). Now, for a superstar like Nicholson (who has never embarrassed himself as an artist or sold-out to the Hollywood mainstream despite a thousand and one opportunities & made the producers of "Batman" pay points through the nose for agreeing to appear in that fluff piece) to take the time to pay his respects to a director he truly admires, and promote the sale of this DVD, should teach some of the younger generation of actors something (or even Robert De Niro, who has for many years now, it's pretty friggin' obvious, gone completely mainstream, and is busy doing DVD commentaries for awful pieces of unfunny, brain-dead commerical putritude like "Meet the Parents," that didn't need his commentary to sell a zillion copies!)! The documentary is in Black and White and among other things which are of supreme interest for cineastes, are the rare interviews with Cesare Zavattini (one of the founders of Neo-Realism), Ennio Flaiano (Fellini's and Antonioni's co-writer), Giovanni Fusco (the Rolls Royce to Ennio Morricone's Ford Mustang in the Paisano hierarchy of film composers), Monica Vitti (at home, in the early '60s with Antonioni himself, who doesn't talk to the interviewer & only throws in an occasional comment!), and Fellini (taking a break from filming "Juliet of the Spirits" to talk to the enquiring interviewer about his friend & co-writer on "The White Sheik"). There are some rare, very revealing shots of Antonioni directing films which give you a rough idea of his style of interaction with cast and crew (in one scene, he is shown directing Princess Soraya, the former wife of the Shah of Iran, whom the Shah had divorced for not having borne him a son!). Last but not least, we also get to see the ridiculously vulgar American trailer for "L'Avventura" that tries to sell it to 'high-class' American audiences as some kind of 'sophisticated' European sex-exploitation film by showing every 'provocative' little snippet in the entire film!
Rating:
Summary: Plotless in a good way
Review: With any Antonioni film it's an exercise in futility to attempt to follow the plot or figure out character motivations. You just let yourself be absorbed by the images, the sounds, and the moods, and only then can the film work. Why does Anna disappear? Was there a decisive moment for her, or one when Claudia realized that she wanted to pursue a relationship with Sandro? Maybe, but that's unimportant. It takes a few viewings to really appreciate, as the narrative is nil, but it's well worth repeated viewings. The documentary on Antonioni on the second disc is a nice feature.
Rating:
Summary: Alienation, Existentialism, Ennui. And it's STILL Good!
Review: There's certainly something about this movie. While this is definitely THE film for people who like to laugh at pretentious foreign cinema, It still works. You even start to care about all of the tragically disaffected rich people by the end. This movie isn't just for those into cool, existential angst, however. If you're willing to put aside all the preconceptions about icy European art cinema, this movie starts to work some magic. For one, it is without hyperbole one of the most beautiful films ever made. Secondly, Antonioni's controversial experiments with cinematic language actually work, if you let them. Those who dislike slow moving films will probably find nothing of value here---this one flows like cold syrup. But if you're willing to be hypnotized, the slow, sneakily methodical pacing of this movie will grow on you. For lovers of sheer craft, there isn't much better than this. For those who prefer sense to sensibiliy, watch out. This will very likely put you to sleep. This is a movie for people who get excited by hearing the wind blow just the right way across a perfectly composed landscape.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning Visual Poetry ...empty ,modern pseudo-philosophy...
Review: There are two aspects about this film and package from Criterion containing the film "L'Avventura" which are compelling, and yet provoking -- the stunning visual imagery...sheer poetry of surfaces, patterns, and shadings...scenic compositions that are photographic artistic masterpieces...and the exasperating, pseudo-philosophizing of Antonioni, the director, in a statement he issued at the Cannes festival, putting forth his views on modern man and his "dilemma"... ..."Nothing...nothing...nothing"...these are the words which are repeated most often by some of the participants of the party which lands on the rocky island in the film... among these affluent Italians is Anna...Anna is moody and wants to be alone...but she is also somehow in love with Sandro...during the day, while the members of the party have separated upon the island...and fallen alseep, Anna disappears...the only visual clue which we see, but we are not ever really sure that it is her, is a motor boat in the distance going past the back of the island...we as the audience see it, but the members of the party do not...but it may... or may not...be Anna...leaving the island...to withdraw... to be alone...to leave the situation with Sandro...we never know... but the ambiguous possibility has been planted in our visual memories... The scenery on the island is incredible...this film has been completely restored using the MTI Digital Restoration System...which, according to the brochure inside the box, removed all the usual irritating blotches, streaks, and other visual debris which may show up on a film print...the DVD itself increases the sharpness and clarity of the black and white images to an incredible degree...the film itself is a poetic symphony of surface textures...from the sharp edges and grainy textures of the island's rocks to the smooth, extraordinarily beautiful texture of Claudia's hair...Claudia is Anna's female friend... who seems to love Anna also...but who later falls for Sandro as well when Sandro and Claudia have left the island but are still pursuing knowlege of the strangely disappeared Anna...even the clouds in the sky and the water spout out on the water seem magically composed by the director for the stunning visual beauty of this film...each scene seems to have been carefully set up to provide the most incredible and compelling visual composition and interesting array of textures, patterns, and surfaces... "And yet, how can it be that it takes so little to change -- to forget?" ... "And still -- she acted as if our love ...was nothing to her...meant nothing to her." ... "Sacrifice? I have no intention of sacrificing myself. It's idiocy sacrificing oneself...Why? For whom?" These are some of the provocative lines of dialogue which give such telling psychological insight into the values and perspectives of the characters involved...and their shifting degrees of love...and loyalty... for the no-longer-present Anna...the "out of sight/ out of care" syndrome seems to begin to set in...former lover and intended husband, turns erotic pursuer of best friend of missing girlfriend...girlfriend tries to remain true...is stronger than boyfriend...but she too is harrassed by erotic longing... The irritating, provoking thought (though one can enjoy this film and its visual beauty and the minimal intrusion of "philosophy" via the dialogue) is that the director of such an incredible film could mouth such pseudo-philosophical modern clap-trap as that which Antonioni dished out in his Cannes statement: "And today a new man is being born, fraught with all the fears, terrors and stammerings that are associated with a period of gestation. And what is even more serious, this new man immediately finds himself burdened with a heavy baggage of emotional traits which cannot exactly be called old and outmoded, but rather unsuited and inadequate. They condition us without offering us any help; they create problems without suggesting any possible solutions. And yet it seems that man will not rid himself of this baggage." If Antonioni would look around today, he might see the hedonistic, valueless, self- indulgent result of man's ridding himself of that so-called baggage. He goes on for one final hilarious "deep" comment: "Indeed, science has never been more humble and less dogmatic than it is today." (1960) Antonioni apparently thought that man's "moral" and emotional life should be as projective to the future, and unburdened by past "rigid and stereotyped morality" or "moral forces and myths...[which were the same] as those that prevailed in Homeric times...." as the development of science was being. It might have done Antonioni some good if he had read William Faulkner's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech four or five times, before he let off his gas at Cannes. But, regardless of Antonioni's "credo", his film is an incredible, stunning visual tone poem...
Rating:
Summary: Cinematic beauty reigns the force
Review: In L'Avventura, Antonioni shows us a shelf of dolls (which happens to be indoors and not lit), but places a doorway leading outside on the far right of the frame (which happens to have white light intensifying the already contrasting areas). But the contrast (which is stunning) isn't even the most stirring element of the shot, it's the camera placement. It is placed so that, when a woman comes through the doorway, she runs directly away from it, and, as she shrinks, we realize that Antonioni has used depth better than any other director in history, even Orson Welles. She is locked in her bright rectangle and the dolls are locked in their dark rectangle and yet they line up perfectly across the screen. She is nothing but a doll. It creates one of the best single images I have ever seen. I recently watched Andrei Rublev and noticed that Tarkovsky used the same technique as Antonioni, with the camera looking outside from indoors, as a dark wall cuts off part of the bright exterior perspective. I sat there and wondered why I wasn't responding to Andrei Rublev in the same way. Then, I realized that a film like L'Avventura is a rare occurrence. It possess something that can reach a place like the soul, grab and bring forth that part of someone, deep inside of them, that they think has become destined to never see light, and wash a thick layer of enchantment upon viewers for centuries to come.
|
