Michelangelo Antonioni: La Notte (1961) + L'Eclisse (1962)

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Michelangelo Antonioni: La Notte (1961) + L'Eclisse (1962)

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In Milan, after visiting dear friend Tommaso Garani that is terminal in a hospital, the writer Giovanni Pontano (Marcello Mastroianni) goes to a party for the release of his last book, and his wife Lydia Pontano (Jeanne Moreau) visits the place where she lived many years ago. In the night, they go to a night-club, and later to a party in the mansion of the tycoon Mr. Gherardini. Along the night, Giovanni flirts with Valentina Gherardini (Monica Vitti), the daughter of the host, and then he receives a proposal to work for him in the area of communication and write the history of his company. Meanwhile, Lydia flirts with the playboy Roberto. Finally, they both notice this fact as events take them into the morning.

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Michelangelo Antonioni: La Notte (1961) + L'Eclisse (1962)

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Michelangelo Antonioni: La Notte (1961) + L'Eclisse (1962)

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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.
In this challenging drama, his characteristic long, significant periods of silence punctuate the message that people just cannot seem to communicate with each other. Capping off Antonioni's previous two films (L'avventura and La Notte) in much the same style, this tale involves a woman who has just suffered the break-up of an imperfect relationship with a staunch intellectual. The stockbroker casts his romantic gaze in Vittoria's direction and the woman gradually relents and they begin a tentative affair. There is much to appreciate in this man who is not overly intellectual and is blessedly free of complications, and the same can be said of Vittoria. Yet their innermost fears play upon both of them in ways that go against an honest expression of their love – and against a lasting relationship.

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Michelangelo Antonioni: La Notte (1961) + L'Eclisse (1962)

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