Review LXXXVII
L'Eclisse (1962)
Guys, Alain Delon is, or was, a sexy man. After watching Le samouraï, my boyfriend and I made sure to check out all the Jean-Pierre Melville and Alain Delon films. The two together were like peas in a pod, just like the wonderful John Carpenter and Kurt Russell films released in the eighties. However, it was Alain Delon's lovely eyes that caught the viewer's attention, so when I found out about Michelangelo Antonioni's L'eclisse, starring yours truly and the beautiful Monica Vitti in a love story, well, I pounced.
Vittoria (Vitti) breaks off with her lover one sunny day and, after visiting her mother at the stock market, meets up with a young, handsome man, Piero (Delon). However, their relationship may be more strenuous than either anticipated.
This film was... long and drawn out. I was very disappointed. The opening scene, while brilliantly shot, was so long. We meet Alain Delon's character at the stock market, but I think we finally saw Vittoria and Piero engage in something maybe two-thirds of the way into the film. The film is over two hours. So yeah, I didn't get any Alain Delon booty or nothin'. Sourly disappointed. However, if you don't go into L'eclisse expecting a very focused plot, you'll enjoy the beautiful shots. I've never seen another Michelangelo Antonioni film, so it is possible his films are primarily artistically appealing shots with a lot of meaning and not so much for the regular folk. However, I did read that he didn't particularly like the ending he chose, which I found was quite out of place. Either way, had I gone into the film without expecting a relatively normal romance, I might not have been as disappointed. But seriously, the woman would show affection, then walk away. I don't even know how Alain Delon kept going.
L'eclisse is a look into my relationships, or that is my guess. We see a lack of complete devotion to the other, and in the end, sorry for spoilers, the two never meet up again even though they both offer promises of seeing each other soon. Apparently this is the final film of a triology specifically about modern age getting in the way of life. The stock market gets in the way of Vittoria and her mother, and maybe Vittoria goes for Piero because of his position in the stock market, revealing that their doomed affair. It does this well, but damn man, the film can still feel extraordinarily long sometimes. Yes, yes, beautiful shots, but sometimes I'm not Koyaanisqatsi patient, especially when I expected Alain Delon, sniffle.
The film takes a relatively good perspective on contemporary living and its downfalls, though it can be long. Also, this film doesn't have a lot of Alain Delon in it, so don't go in expecting him. Otherwise, you'll be very sad indeed.
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