L'Avventura

This article is about the 1960 film. For the Dean & Britta album, see L'Avventura (album).

L'Avventura
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichelangelo Antonioni
Screenplay by
Story byMichelangelo Antonioni
Produced byAmato Pennasilico
Starring
CinematographyAldo Scavarda
Edited byEraldo Da Roma
Music byGiovanni Fusco
Production
companies
  • Cino Del Duca
  • Produzioni Cinematografiche Europee
  • Société Cinématographique Lyre
Distributed by
  • Cino Del Duca (Italy)
  • Athos Films (France)
Release dates
  • 15 May 1960 (1960-05-15) (Cannes)
  • 14 September 1960 (1960-09-14) (France)
  • 29 September 1960 (1960-09-29) (Italy)
Running time
143 minutes
Countries
LanguageItalian

L'Avventura (English: "The Adventure") is a 1960 drama film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Developed from a story by Antonioni with co-writers Elio Bartolini and Tonino Guerra, the film is about the disappearance of a young woman (Lea Massari) during a boating trip in the Mediterranean, and the subsequent search for her by her lover (Gabriele Ferzetti) and her best friend (Monica Vitti). It was filmed on location in Rome, the Aeolian Islands, and Sicily in 1959 under difficult financial and physical conditions. The film is noted for its unusual pacing, which emphasizes visual composition, mood, and character over traditional narrative development.

L'Avventura was nominated for numerous awards and was awarded the Jury Prize at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival. The film made Vitti an international star.[2] According to an Antonioni obituary, the film "systematically subverted the filmic codes, practices and structures in currency at its time".[3] L'Avventura is the first film of a trilogy by Antonioni, followed by La Notte (1961) and L'Eclisse (1962).[4][5][6][N 1] It has appeared on Sight & Sound's list of the critics' top ten greatest films ever made three times in a row: It was voted second in 1962,[7] fifth in 1972 and seventh in 1982.[8] In 2010, it was ranked number 40 on Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema".[9] The film would go on to influence several arthouse directors, including Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Jia Zhangke, and Hirokazu Kore-eda.[10]

  1. ^ a b "L'Avventura". Cineuropa. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  2. ^ Valdez, Joe (26 August 2007). "L'Avventura (1960)". This Distracted Globe. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  3. ^ Adair, Gilbert (1 August 2007). "Michelangelo Antonioni". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2008.
  4. ^ Gazetas, Aristides (2008). An Introduction to World Cinema (2nd ed.). North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-7864-3907-2. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016.
  5. ^ Wakeman, John, ed. (1988). World Film Directors: Volume Two, 1945-1985. New York: H. W. Wilson Company. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-8242-0763-2.
  6. ^ a b Cameron, Ian Alexander; Wood, Robin (1971). Antonini. London: Praeger. p. 105. ISBN 978-0289795989. Archived from the original on 30 June 2014.
  7. ^ "Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1962". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  8. ^ "Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1982". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  9. ^ "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema". Empire. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  10. ^ Koehler, Robert (August 2011). "What makes Antonioni's L'avventura great". Sight & Sound. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2020. But the map has been opened again by a new generation. Its influence can now be seen in films from every continent – to such an extent that the Antonioni open film can be said to be in its golden age. Here are some examples: the work of Apichatpong Weerasethakul, from Blissfully Yours to Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives; Lisandro Alonso's La libertad through to Liverpool; Uruphong Raksasad's Agrarian Utopia; C.W. Winter and Anders Edström's The Anchorage; Ulrich Köhler's Sleeping Sickness; the entire so-called Berlin School, of which Köhler is a part; Albert Serra's Honour of the Knights and Birdsong; James Benning; Kelly Reichardt; Kore-eda Hirokazu; Ho Yuhang's Rain Dogs; Jia Zhangke's Platform and Still Life; Li Hongqi's Winter Vacation. The list goes on...


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