L'Avventura is a 1960 Italian drama film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. The film is about the disappearance of a young woman during a boating trip in the Mediterranean, and the subsequent search for her by her lover and her best friend. L'Avventura is considered a masterpiece by some critics and has influenced the visual language of cinema, changing how subsequent films looked. However, it has also been criticized by others for its seemingly uneventful plot and slow pacing, along with the existentialist themes.
The film stars Lea Massari as the missing woman, Gabriele Ferzetti as her lover, and Monica Vitti as her best friend. The film's cinematography is notable for its use of long takes and wide shots, which emphasize the characters' isolation and the vastness of the landscape.
L'Avventura has been restored and released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection, which includes special features such as an audio commentary by film historian Gene Youngblood, an analysis of the film by Olivier Assayas, and a documentary about Antonioni. The film has also been reviewed positively by critics, with Roger Ebert calling it "the most pure and stark of several films about characters who drifted in existential limbo".
Cast
- Lea Massari as Anna
- Gabriele Ferzetti as Sandro
- Monica Vitti as Claudia
- Dominique Blanchar as Giulia
- Renzo Ricci as Anna's father
- James Addams as Corrado
- Dorothy De Poliolo as Gloria Perkins
- Lelio Luttazzi as Raimondo
- Giovanni Petrucci as Young Prince
- Esmeralda Ruspoli as Patrizia
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Writesr: Michelangelo Antonioni, Elio Bartolini, Tonino Guerra
Box Office Gross: $2,606
Distributor: Criterion Collection, Janus Films
Genre: Drama
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 4, 1961
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 21, 2009