Featured Audience Ratings

• Bob S

  
  Monad. I just wanted to say monad.

• Elvira B

  
  It's useless to try to describe it. You just <i> have </i> to watch it. A classic of Italian cinema, about mediocrity, and being lost, and meaninglessness. "Siamo in media". We're in the middle.

• Stella D

  
  the bored and the beautiful. stunning film, especially the uncompromising ending. get your existential angst here. i liked this more than l'avventura tho i probably need to watch that one again now...

• Lanning :

  
  <b>The Eclipse</b><p>Okay, after reading my flixster buddies' comments about <i>L'Elisse</i>, I feel as if I must apologize in advance for what I'm about to say -- in general. <p> Yes, I admit it, I jumped into the trilogy with… More
  <b>The Eclipse</b><p>Okay, after reading my flixster buddies' comments about <i>L'Elisse</i>, I feel as if I must apologize in advance for what I'm about to say -- in general. <p> Yes, I admit it, I jumped into the trilogy with <i>La Notte</i>, which, if you've read my comments, you know I like. <p>Walter, I did not give up on this one -- I stuck it out. This being said, I'm that much the older, but, I fear, not much the wiser. <p> Off-topic. Kind of. You be the judge. Has anyone who's actually reading this, having slogged through the above mire, read Haruki Murakami's short story entitled "The Elephant Vanishes"? Well, if not, it's a story about balance, in part, and about proportion, in part, and about mystery, in part, and about individual interest -- again, in part. And it's probably about more, but it's just a wee bit outside of "fresh in my mind." I have a small-sized memory.<p> When an elephant suddenly disappears into proverbial thin air, what are we to think? I think some of us would think nothing. And for sure some of us would think something. And I truly believe that some of us would explore this phenomenon to the end of time, ala Fox Mulder. <p>If I'd have come to this third part of Antonioni's trilogy before seeing <i>La Notte</i>, I can pretty much guarantee you that I would not ever have seen <i>La Notte</i>. The personal interest angle would be nil. But since I saw <i>La Notte</i> first -- the middle section of the trilogy -- I decided to check out the hind quarters, as it were, of this particular elephant. <p> And what did I find? I found something lacking in all proportion to the middle. Something is out of whack with this part three installment. If you are going to do a trilogy -- and I never even saw the first film, as I've already said, so I apologize -- you should look for balance. Trust me, given my wholly biased perceived imbalance between part two and part three, I will not pursue, at my age, watching part one. Time is short, and precious. I actually learned this from watching <i>La Notte</i>. Believe it. Or not. <p>Anywaysies, as my buddy Allison might say, this particular capstone is shrunkenly lacking, compared to the middle part. No pun intended, this baby is so black-and-white that even the idea of mystery is stripped to the bone like the bleached white skeletons incorporating an elephant graveyard. But I digress. <p> But . . . <p>Still, I would go on, but I hope I've already made my point. This one is <b>very</b> disappointing, like the way I feel when I realize that vanishing an elephant is not so simple as digging a time-worthy Shawshankian tunnel under the elephant's cage. It's actually, perhaps, the elegant possibility of warping reality, time, and me -- the reader. But <i>L'Eclisse</i> hardly comes up to, hardly fulfills, that degree of possibility. I'm at the thinking-nothing-about-this-anymore stage, beginning right now as I stop typing. But what do I know? I'm no Fox Mulder. I'm certainly not even the half shadow of a Tia Leone.

• Michael G

  
  There were certain aspects of this movie that left me absolutely floored. Antonioni's composition (because every frame in this movie is a beautiful photograph), his use of sound (or lack thereof) namely in the first 20 minutes and in the last ten as well as the obnoxious stock… More
  There were certain aspects of this movie that left me absolutely floored. Antonioni's composition (because every frame in this movie is a beautiful photograph), his use of sound (or lack thereof) namely in the first 20 minutes and in the last ten as well as the obnoxious stock exchange scenes. And how can anyone neglect to make adoring mention of the luminous Monica Vitti? But for as beautiful as L'Eclisse was I couldn't bring myself to fall in love with it. For me it was a lot like Vitti's character, Vittoria--cold, beautiful and distant. The story was kind of So What. I'm sure I need to watch it again, but I wasn't blown away by the total package. It's a great piece of art, but not a great movie as far as I'm concerned. But that's just me.

• Ivan D

  
  Deemed by Martin Scorsese as the 'boldest' film in Michelangelo Antonioni's trilogy of emotional isolation (the other two films being "L'Avventura" and "La Notte"), "L'Eclisse", especially in its final moments, has displayed just… More
  Deemed by Martin Scorsese as the 'boldest' film in Michelangelo Antonioni's trilogy of emotional isolation (the other two films being "L'Avventura" and "La Notte"), "L'Eclisse", especially in its final moments, has displayed just that and has also solidified, at least in my eyes, Antonioni's status as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Enhanced by Monica Vitti's powerfully disillusioning and mercurial performance as Vittoria and Alain Delon's animated turn as her overly passionate (but I doubt that this is the right term for his character) stockbroker of a lover named Piero, "L'Eclisse" is an exemplary depiction of the qualms of leading an ennui-ridden life in a materialistic world. As highlighted by the film's almost nauseating visualization of the stock market, Antonioni is eager in exposing the chaotic repercussions of money. But more importantly, I think that, more or less, the film is truly an ambitious meditation on loneliness. Throughout the film, we see Vittoria do all sorts of recreational things to alleviate her angst-ridden state of mind. From riding a plane, dancing in the tune of a native African music to chasing dogs, she has done it all. But still, empty she was. Along then came Piero, an aggressive, over-materialistic lad whose advances to Vittoria was first received with coldness, and then with passionate abandon. Both slightly cautious at first, they then began to have a series of brief romantic encounters that has neither meaning nor worth. In many ways, "L'Eclisse" is a thoroughly pessimistic view on modern romance and how it's just impossible to maintain one in a money-driven world. In its majority, the film is exclusive in its observation of Vittoria's alienation. But by the end of the film, by way of a conclusive montage that has a certain power only a few scenes from a select number of films can muster, Antonioni suddenly transfers the alienation from Vittoria to us, the viewers. By focusing mainly on a mundane street corner, its various trivialities and several 'alien' faces while completely removing Vittoria and even Piero from the whole picture, we ourselves are lost. 'Where have the characters gone?' 'Who are these people?' 'Where am I?' These are the questions that Antonioni has sparked within me as the montage kicks in. Through this striking sequence, Antonioni lets us feel that particular feeling of isolation and fear of not being able to perceive and interpret the things we're seeing. The resulting feeling, at least for me, is truly transcendent and somehow spine-chilling. As those final minutes play out, I was literally lost for words; I can't decipher the holistic meaning of the images because the scene, I believe, is really meant to be 'incommunicable'. Bar none, "L'Eclisse" is certainly one of the most emotionally and perceptively unique cinematic experiences of my life. 50 years after its creation, its themes are still supremely relevant. At the end of the day, I think it's either "L'Eclisse" is truly a timeless masterwork or our everyday living hasn't really changed that much after all. For me, I think it's a great combination of both. Despite of "L'Eclisse's" esoteric quality, it has an emotional and reflective appeal that transcends cinematic barriers. This is auteurism at its best.

• Dimitris S

  
  Antonioni masterfully juxtaposes the drastic male and the imperfect female,Vitti transforming in a black/white wraith,choking in the decreasing moods of New Italy.And yet,why can't there be a fitting hole for the cloistered emotions,the hapless devotions?Is it dreariness or more… More
  Antonioni masterfully juxtaposes the drastic male and the imperfect female,Vitti transforming in a black/white wraith,choking in the decreasing moods of New Italy.And yet,why can't there be a fitting hole for the cloistered emotions,the hapless devotions?Is it dreariness or more unanswered questions...?

Read all 7 featured audience ratings