278 L'eclisse

[Martha]

L'eclisse



The concluding chapter of Michelangelo Antonioni’s informal trilogy on contemporary malaise (following L’avventura and La notte), L’eclisse (The Eclipse) tells the story of a young woman (Monica Vitti) who leaves one lover (Francisco Rabal) and drifts into a relationship with another (Alain Delon). Using the architecture of Rome as a backdrop for the doomed affair, Antonioni achieves the apotheosis of his style in this return to the theme that preoccupied him the most: the difficulty of connection in an alienating modern world.

Disc Features

• New, restored high-definition digital film transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Audio commentary by film scholar Richard Peña, former program director of New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center
• Michelangelo Antonioni: The Eye That Changed Cinema (2001), a fifty-six-minute documentary exploring the director’s life and career
• Elements of Landscape, a twenty-two-minute piece from 2005 about Antonioni and L’eclisse, featuring Italian film critic Adriano Aprà and longtime Antonioni friend Carlo di Carlo
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by film critics Jonathan Rosenbaum and Gilberto Perez, as well as excerpts from Antonioni’s writing about his work

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[ellipsis7]

I've been waiting for this one for a long time... The blurb seems to imply that the 'informal trilogy on modern malaise' might be completed with a future CC release of LA NOTTE... Let's keep fingers crossed...

MA: THE EYE THAT CHANGED CINEMA docu - I wonder where this comes from?
And I answer my own question...

MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI - A VISION THAT CHANGED CINEMA (2001)
ITALY

A tribute to film maker Michelangelo Antonioni and his films as from vast material on file preserved by the RAI library, gathered from television and radio. The film is structured in chronological order and follows the steps of the director in the most important times of his life, from his first neo-realistic documentaries to the Oscar for his contribution to the history of cinema in 1993. Between these two extremes, we see him making his celebrated films, his encounter with censorship in The Vanquished, his disillusion after the preview of The Adventure, the Gold Palm for Blow-up, the American experience in Zabriskie Point, the stroke that made it impossible for him to work for many years and, finally, the long-awaited return in Beyond the Clouds. His film biography includes statements by Tonino Guerra, Monica Vitti, and Enrica Antonioni.

director
SANDRO LAI

production company
RAI CINEMA - Piazza Adriana 12 00193 Roma, Italy - Tel: 39 06 684 701 Fax: 39 06 687 2015.

world sales
RAI TRADE - Via Umberto Novaro, 18 - 00195 Rome -Italy - Tel:0039 06 37 498473 - [email protected]

55 minutos minutos
Col, Black and white

[vertovfan]

N.U. and When Love Fails (Antonioni's segment from Love in the City) would be wonderful extras... I hardly dare to hope they fall under "more". In any case, L'Eclisse is one of my favorite films of all time - hallelujah!

[ellipsis7]

Yes, there should be quite a bit of room on the 2nd disc, should they choose to fill it with 'more'....

[Martha]

Any day that involves added more Alain Delon to the Collection is a fantastic one.

Plus, you know, the movie's alright.

[paa400]

Now I can fianlly throw out my crappy dubbed VHS copy.

[GringoTex]

I've been waiting for this one for a long time... The blurb seems to imply that the 'informal trilogy on modern malaise' might be completed with a future CC release of LA NOTTE... Let's keep fingers crossed...

How is the available dvd of LA NOTTE?

[ellipsis7]

Not so hot - it's early Fox Lorber - non anamorphic widescreen, with not fantastic resolution, flatness and a pretty poor transfer and ragged source print. There are no extras either.

L'AVVENTURA was a classically great picture quality CC release, and I agree that the glimpses of L'ECLISSE on Scorsese's MY VOYAGE ITALY give an idea of the kind of luminous quality and detailed resolution that we can expect on the upcoming CC release...

The Fox Lorber LA NOTTE DVD is better than nothing at all, but a CC release for it would be a million times better... It would do justice to the film, which Fox Lorber does not!

RED DESERT, also OOP and originally on Image DVD, would also benefit greatly from the CC treatment to give a proper presentation of Antonioni's first colour film, and the incredible way in which he manipulates it...

Footnote: most bizarre is watching the what MA did with the colour grading of the video MYSTERY OF OBERWALD on NTSC VHS being coverted into PAL...

[vertovfan]

There was a VHS release from Connoisseur Video many years back that was pretty decent. But it went out of print long ago - I had to scour ebay to find it (and it was well worth it)!

[Lino]

That's the one I had and later sold when DVDs starting taking the market by storm. And how I regret it now...but I guess the wait is FINALLY over and worth it every penny!

[ellipsis7]

Appeared until recently in a reasonable PAL VHS edition released by 'Arthouse Original' in an EU Media Programme supported release, with Janus Films logo at head of film... OOP now for a couple of years...

[David]

I've always had a really hard time with the male characters in Antonioni's films, especially L'Eclisse. I sat through the whole movie hoping nothing would develop between Delon and Monica Vitti.
In my eyes many of the female characters in Antonioni's movies is trapped in a patriachal society and is trying to escape from the men ( perfectly illustrated both on the cover and also the opening scene in the film).
I've never read anything about this aspect anywhere, which seems very odd to me.
EDIT:
Reading through this post now, I'm really ashmed how over-simplified this was. What I was trying to say had to do more with the main problems often discussed about Antonioni’s films – the shallowness of society, of relationships and lack of communication etc... In this he often uses women as protagonists, because I think he personally feels they are closer to their feelings and are more aware of the problems the suffer from. While men, on the other side, easier take refuge in sex, shallow relationships etc...Not that this behavior is decided by nature, but because they are trapped in constructed roles, given by their culture

[souvenir]

I just noticed this is no longer listed as being two discs on the Criterion site.

[ellipsis7]

I don't think it was ever referred to as a 2 disc on the actual L'ECLISSE pages on the CC site... That info came from an earlier item in the 'News' section of the site. So there's no evidence that the situation has changed... I'm still expecting 2 (as also shown on Amazon's page)!

[BWilson]

Is it just me or did they change the cover?

[David]

Is it just me or did they change the cover?

You're completely right. They changed it a while ago. Here's the member's comments and the old cover.

[oldsheperd]

Back cover is up on dvdempire.

I likey. Real silver nitrate-y look.

[Steven H]

So it *is* two disc, they've changed the 22 min extra title from The "Sickness of Eros" to "Elements of Landscape", and "more!" I guess means "excerpts from Antonioni's own writings about his work".

Strange. Wonder what else hasn't been updated on the site.

[Subbuteo]

Nice beaver review

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews10/eclisse_.htm

[ellipsis7]

There's going to be enough CC DVDs in March competing for Criterion DVD of the Year, let alone in full 12 months...

I'm really looking forward to seeing L'ECLISSE, having been bowled over by THE RIVER, and expect the same from JULES ET JIM...

[Lino]

Wow! Just look at those pictures! I am flaberghasted! I can't wait to own this one! Top marks everyone!

[javelin]

Agreed, Annie - Antonioni has the most amazing eye for composition. And that image quality - I can't wait.

[Napier]

I just finished watching this!WOW!!I thought I was blown away by The River!!This is phenomenal!This was my first time viewing this DVD as well as the film itself!Antonioni,Alain Delon,Criterion= =D> Can't reccomend this one enough!

[swingo]

I just pre-ordered it, one of the most wished dvds for me...

Axel.

[Gordon]

Everything about this set looks awesome. It looks like one of Criterion's finest hours.

I love Antonioni's films and have been checking out a lot of Alain Delon recently (managed to get the French edition of Le Samourai) so this one was a no-brainer.

I doesn't look like we're going to see The Passenger any time soon, so I picked up a DVD-r of it recently that is from the Japanese letterboxed Laserdisc and looks pretty good.

Is the R1 of The Red Desert really as bad as people say it is or should I wait for a better edition?