A Vigilance of Desire: Antonioni’s L’eclisse
by Mar 14, 2005Your vigilance as an artist is an amorous vigilance, a vigilance of desire.—Roland Barthes to Michelangelo Antonioni, 1979It’s lamentable that Michelangelo Antonioni, one . . .
Italy
1962
126 minutes
Black and White
1.85:1
Italian
278
The conclusion of Michelangelo Antonioni’s informal trilogy on modern malaise, L’eclisse (The Eclipse) tells the story of a young woman (Monica Vitti) who leaves one lover (Francisco Rabal) only to drift into a relationship with another (Alain Delon). Using the architecture of Rome as a backdrop for the couple’s doomed affair, Antonioni reaches the apotheosis of his modernist style, returning to his favorite themes: alienation and the difficulty of finding connections in an increasingly mechanized world.
| Vittoria | Monica Vitti |
| Piero | Alain Delon |
| Riccardo | Francisco Rabal |
| Vittoria’s mother | Lilla Brignone |
| Stockbroker | Louis Seigner |
| Anita | Rossana Rory |
| Marta | Mirella Ricciardi |
| Director | Michelangelo Antonioni |
| Screenplay | Michelangelo Antonioni and Tonino Guerra |
| with the collaboration of | Elio Bartolini and Ottiero Ottieri |
| Producer | Raymond Hakim and Robert Hakim |
| Cinematography | Gianni Di Venanzo |
| Editing | Eraldo Da Roma |
| Sets | Piero Poletto |
| Music | Giovanni Fusco |
| Sound | Mario Bramonti and Claudio Maielli |
| Assistant directors | Gianni Arduini and Franco Indovina |
| Production Design | Danilo Marciani |
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:
Your vigilance as an artist is an amorous vigilance, a vigilance of desire.—Roland Barthes to Michelangelo Antonioni, 1979It’s lamentable that Michelangelo Antonioni, one . . .
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