L'avventura (1960)

Director:

Michelangelo Antonioni

Writers:

Michelangelo Antonioni (story)
Michelangelo Antonioni (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 March 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery

Plot:

A woman disappears during a Mediterranean boating trip. But during the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other.

Plot Keywords:

Friend | Island | Search | Italy | Yacht

Awards:

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Gabriele Ferzetti	...	Sandro
Monica Vitti	...	Claudia
Lea Massari	...	Anna
Dominique Blanchar	...	Giulia
Renzo Ricci	...	Anna's Father
James Addams	...	Corrado
Dorothy De Poliolo	...	Gloria Perkins
Lelio Luttazzi	...	Raimondo
Giovanni Petrucci	...	Prince Goffredo
Esmeralda Ruspoli	...	Patrizia
Jack O'Connell	...	Old man on the island
Angela Tommasi Di Lampedusa	...	The Princess
Franco Cimino
Prof. Cucco	...	Ettore
Giovanni Danesi

Also Known As:

L'isola (Italy) (working title)
The Adventure (International: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

143 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Italy:VM14 | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG (re-rating) (1995) | UK:X (original rating) | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Aeolian Islands, Messina, Sicily, Italy

Company:

Cino del Duca

Trivia:

Despite its critical mauling at its first showing at the Cannes Film Festival, two years later "L'Avventura" was declared by Sight and Sound as the second best film of all time, right behind "Citizen Kane" (1941).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the sequence in which Sandro and the newspaper reporter cross a street, the shadows of the camera and the crew are clearly and prolongedly visible on the actors and on the street surface.

Quotes:

Patrizia: Do you like scuba diving?
Raimondo: I simply loath it, yet I must conform, what can you do?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Tempo di viaggio (1983) (TV)

One of the truly great works of cinema

"L'avventura"--"The Adventure", an adventure into the void of the modern world.

Antonioni's first international success is a subtle masterpiece focusing on the disappearance of an unhappy woman on an island and her friends' subsequent search. This is one of my favorite films of all-time. The composition and camerawork is aesthetically perfect; every frame is beautiful. The film's subtle psychological exploration is masterful, dealing with isolation and the protagonist's passive lifestyle forced to change under new circumstances. The sparse score perfectly fits the mysterious tone of the picture. Monica Vitti is nothing short of magnificent in the lead role. Constricting and excess plot details have been cut away, and the pace is slowed to allow the viewer to take in the wonderful images and actually think about the meanings and ideas contained within them. For viewers seeking serious, artful, intelligent, subtle, visually-stunning 'pure' cinema, this is the epitome.