L'Eclisse (1962)

… the ache and ecstasy of love…

In his most audacious film to date, Antonioni re-teams with muse Monica Vitti to achieve the ultimate culmination of his signature style and preoccupying theme: the difficulty of connection in an alienating world. After a sleepless night, translator Vittoria (Vitti) breaks up with her boyfriend and wanders the streets of Rome. At the Roman Stock Exchange, she meets her mother’s broker, the ambitious and confident Piero (Alain Delon), but their courtship seems fated to end almost as soon as it begins. Using the architecture of Rome as a backdrop for the doomed affair, Antonioni speaks commandingly yet cryptically about love amid modernity, climaxing in one of cinema’s all-time great endings.

Cannes Film Festival 1962 – Winner, Jury Special Prize
Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists 1963 – Nominee, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress

Rating

U

Duration

126 min

Country

Italy, France

Language

Italian (English subtitles)

Cast

Alain Delon, Monica Vitti, Francisco Rabal

Director

Michelangelo Antonioni

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