Michelangelo Antonioni: L'Eclisse

Director - Michelangelo Antonioni
Writer - Michelangelo Antonioni & Tonino Guerra

Cast Character

Alain Delon ... Piero
Monica Vitti ... Vittoria
Francisco Rabal ... Riccardo
Louis Seigner ... Ercoli
Lilla Brignone ... Vittoria's Mother
Rossana Rory ... Anita
Mirella Ricciardi ... Marta





Inside Vittoria's room is Ricardo. Time has emptied in silence shown by the multitude of used cigarettes on the floor. They decide on ending everything between them. She walks to him showing dominance entering his field of vision. She breaks away leaving him looking straight ahead without turning his head - he accepts their relationship is over. The lines in the mirror on her face that is shown while she is looking at Riccardo shows there is a beginning and an end to everything. As she looks outside she sees a phallic water tower persisting her lust and resembling a nuclear bomb.

Riccardo asks her for forgiveness. She says she was happier at 20. She says she will no longer translate articles for him and will have a woman do it instead. She says after being asked that she is not sure if she loves him. Around her is abstract art - hinting at her abstract feelings of him. This is two fold as both cannot communicate or choose not to out of a lack of courage and intimacy. The abstract art shows that he is also old fashioned.

He follows her in his car and meets up with her again. She asks why. He says he always follows her so, "Why not today?" She tells him it was a terrible night. He tells her goodbye then corrects himself to say they will see each other again. He accepts and says they won't call each other. As the stock market she calls for her mother. Piero overhears an insider stock tip from another man and buys 20,000 on Finsider. Vittoria meets her mother who goes to Piero to buy some stock. Outside both Vittoria and her mother shop for some fruit. She doesn't tell her mother she has split with Riccardo. At home her friend Amita comes and Vittoria tells her that she couldn't sleep last night. She tells her she is tired and depressed, disgusted and confused. She tells her friend, "What can I say? There are times when holding a needle and thread, or a book, or a man - it's all the same." She doesn't want convention but anything else. Vittoria meets Amita's friend Marta. Marta says she is hot in this weather but Amita tells her she should be used to it having lived in Kenya. She shows everyone the picture of the country. Ones of trees, jungles and savannas. Vittoria after seeing some tribal pictures of the natives dresses up and dances to the native music. Marta says she is scared of the native violence there.

The two chase after a lost dog. One of the dogs entertains her as it is magnificent at playing tricks. It makes her laugh as she did in the apartment. Outside there is a great shot Antonioni employs. He shows Riccardo on the street as seen through the balcony bars showing he is imprisoned by love. She and Marta take a ride in their friend's plane. They look outside and see the coliseum and canal.

At the city an older man talks to Piero and tells him not to be so eager to buy so many stocks. Piero decides to buy Finsider stock again after having luck the previous day. He meets with his partners buying and selling stocks before the bidding begins. Vittoria's mother arrives and drops salt on the floor for good luck. Piero calls his associates to find out a stock has dropped in another city so he tells Dino to sell immediately. Vittoria arrives and sees Piero. She goes to her mother. Despondent after her losses she wants to stay. Her mother claims the losses are due to politics as there is someone behind the scenes always pulling strings. Vittoria meets with Piero concerned with her mother''s losses. He says not to worry - with money anything is fixable. Piero shows Vittoria one man who lost 50,000,000 lire. She follows him and watches to see how he reacts.

After she leaves she runs into Piero again who is more enamored by stocks than her. She begins to notice him and fakes interest in the stock exchange. Piero tries to explain the stock market is much more complex than simply winning and losing money. The two leave together. In her apartment she shows him pictures of her father. In her room she lays on her bed and Piero tries to make his move but doesn't work. Her mother comes and offers Piero some food. Piero's boss tells the clients about the market and despite losses it is still stable. He assures them foreign countries still buy. Piero upset at his secretary has to find a client who owes 4,000,000 lire. He tells him, "If the market drops, I pay. If it goes up, you win - is that it?" He tells the client that he made him so much money over the years but he got greedy and lost it all.

Piero meets a girl and is angry when she dyes her hair. He tells her go and drives off. At the apartment he talks to Vittoria but to his bad luck a drunk steals his car. The next day they find his car in the water with a whole crew working to pull it out. He tells Vittoria he can fix up the car and sell it. They go to the apartment and Vittoria calls Marta. As they walk by the street Vittoria tosses a piece of wood in a barrel of water. This shows that some unknown force is keeping them together. At his apartment Piero reads the newspaper and answers a call from Vittoria who is too unsure to speak.

Vittoria walks outside to an empty sky looking at the buildings of cold modernity that are emotionally empty. She comes back to the barrel of water still assured that the water is still there. Piero throws a match case in the water next to the piece of wood. The wood lies on the matches and Vittoria flicks the two apart - hinting there would be no sex between the two. He tells her he bought a new BMW which bores Vittoria. His ambition is off-putting because he can never be in the present moment with her. As they talk there is a diamond shaped sign in the distance between the two of them. A diamond is most commonly a symbol of love, excellence and purification. It is also a symbol of power, strength and beauty.

He takes her to his apartment where she sits on the bench. He asks her, "You want to sit there?" hinting his bed would be better. His art is modern and elaborate contrasted by Riccardo's abstract older art. They both reveal their personalities which their age show as well. There is a 10 year age gap between both men, Riccardo being older. As the couple talk they share a joke which opens them up to a connection.She complains to him that he asks too many questions. She tells him, "Two people shouldn't know each other too well if they want to fall in love."

Diamond patterns reappear in his bedroom. She sees two pictures of his parents and feels naked in front of them. Outside she looks and sees many white tables that look like diamonds as well. They show further a relationship between time and space. A montage is shown of buildings outside. Modernity's coldness pierces her. The ominous music as they embrace spells doom. He talks to her about marriage and she is fickle. She only says, "I don't know." This uncertainty angers Piero.

Inside his apartment they play and leave. They promise to see each other tomorrow, the next day and so forth. A montage of shots show modernity overpowering nature. Buildings are everywhere. The broken lines of the pedestrian crosswalk show a lack of permanence in all things. A hole in the barrel of water leaks whatever love between Piero and Vittoria is left. This is shown by the piece of wood and matches inside. A man comes out of the bus reading a newspaper that warns of the nuclear arms race. The draining water from the barrel goes to the sewer.