278 L'eclisse

[feihong]

That's great, actually. It's like getting two commentaries for the price of one.

[cdnchris]

I was on vacation so missed the e-mail about this (it was sent a week ago,) but Criterion has replacement DVDs ready that have the correct commentary. Anyone who bought the new dual-format edition and wants a corrected DVD can contact [email protected]. All future printings will have the correct commentary on the DVD.

[ccfixx]

Hello Chris,

I hope this email finds you well. We will soon have replacement DVDs for the L'ECLISSE DVDs, but they are not yet available. We expect them soon and as soon as they become available we'll mail you one at the address you provided. In the meanwhile, please let me know if you have any questions, and thank you for supporting Criterion!

Best,
Jon Mulvaney

[cdnchris]

Huh. I was led to believe they had them ready to go and was offered one (I ended up passing on it as I wasn't too concerned about it.)

[warren oates]

I'm thinking they might have only had a limited quantity of the correct pressing on hand. Because I emailed last night and got much the same response as ccfixx.

[ccfixx]

For those interested, replacement DVDs are now shipping because I received mine in the mail today.

Also, a note was included...

Dear Criterion Collector,

Thank you very much for your order of the new, dual format Blu-ray/DVD L'ECLISSE from criterion.com.

After the first pressing of this title, we noticed a problem. the commentary track on the DVD disc two was incorrect. As quickly as possible, we went to work to produce a new disc, with the proper DVD commentary for the film.

Today we are sending you this corrected DVD disc two, to replace the original disc. The new disc will read "SECOND PRINTING." Please feel free to dispose of the original disc; there is no need to send it to us.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. As always, thank you for supporting Criterion.

Sincerely,

The Criterion Collection

[AtlantaFella]

I was on vacation so missed the e-mail about this (it was sent a week ago,) but Criterion has replacement DVDs ready that have the correct commentary. Anyone who bought the new dual-format edition and wants a corrected DVD can contact [email protected]. All future printings will have the correct commentary on the DVD.

Thank you; I upgraded to dual-format yesterday and sure enough the DVD version has the incorrect commentary. I appreciate the alert.

[chatterjees]

I sent an email to Jon almost 2 weeks ago regarding the replacement disc. I am still waiting for a reply!

[aox]

Pena's commentary is fine and competent, but I don't think it compares to Youngblood's on L'avventura which might be my favorite commentary of all time. It's a perfect mixture of academia and fun.

[Norbie]

I got my copy last week and the DVD contains the correct Audio Commentary. :( ;)

Do I need to watch L'avventura and La Notte to understand what's going on in L'eclisse?

[ellipsis7]

No, they are a loose trilogy perceived to be on the theme of 'alienation', by all means do watch them all but there is no absolute onus to do so in order to appreciate L'ECLISSE which is a standalone piece...

[Jack Phillips]

No, they are a loose trilogy perceived to be on the theme of 'alienation', by all means do watch them all but there is no absolute onus to do so in order to appreciate L'ECLISSE which is a standalone piece...

Well, yes, but I find that the ending of L'ECLISSE provides a kind of summing up of all Antonioni up to that point. L'avventura and La Notte are chronologically interchangeable, but I feel it would be a good idea to save L'ECLISSE for last.

[ellipsis7]

No, they are a loose trilogy perceived to be on the theme of 'alienation', by all means do watch them all but there is no absolute onus to do so in order to appreciate L'ECLISSE which is a standalone piece...

Well, yes, but I find that the ending of L'ECLISSE provides a kind of summing up of all Antonioni up to that point. L'avventura and La Notte are chronologically interchangeable, but I feel it would be a good idea to save L'ECLISSE for last.

True. But actually you'd have to see much more and read much more to fully register the development up to the point of L'ECLISSE...

[FakeBonanza]

I personally find the "loose trilogy" perspective to be nothing more than a matter of critical convenience, which too often results in the films being discussed as a whole, rather than individually. The themes present in these three films are not exclusive to them, though of course his films with male protagonists tend to differ more significantly because of the significance Antonioni places on gender.

Despite all this, it is probably best to watch them in order, just as it's best to watch the three of them before going on to Red Desert. There is always some benefit to watching a director's films chronologically, because there will usually be a natural and observable progression. In this case, it's most crucial that you watch L'avventura first because of its significance and because it's a little "looser" than the latter two, which are more refined, distilled examples of Antonioni's aesthetic (with L'eclisse being the most refined).

I do think there is an argument to be made for not only watching La notte after the other two, but apart from them as well. To me it is the most singular of the three, both in terms of style and thematic content. I think it is La notte that suffers the most from being included in the so-called trilogy.

[oh yeah]

Surely watching a director's oeuvre chronologically has a certain satisfaction to it in being able to see them actually evolve, but I don't think this (or any other prescribed order of viewing) is at all necessary or even that important. One can be fine having Red Desert as their first Antonioni just as much as having Identification of a Woman, Il Grido or Zabriskie Point. Now, a film like Zabriskie, because it is so different in certain superficial ways from A's other work, may offer a false picture of what his art is about, but this would be readily remedied by simply watching L'avventura, or what have you, next. My first Antonioni was The Passenger. I appreciated it more than loved it, and then after 3 months of nothingness, no further viewings of that or any of his other work, I had a revelation of sorts, related to certain life events and triggered by certain images from the film suddenly trickling through my brain again: this is a great, great film. And from there I devoured all the 1960's works in whatever order I could find them the fastest. It was actually Zabriskie Point and Red Desert which I loved the most on first viewing, with the "alienation trilogy" leaving me cold (only to grow to love them on repeat viewings; Blowup also took maybe five viewings before I saw it as a masterpiece). Although I do adore L'eclisse and L'avventura, there is something special about his color films, and something special about that other trilogy -- the MGM "International" trilogy -- which may make me inclined to agree with Murray Pomerance when he suggests that Antonioni worked best in color. But I digress.

[Norbie]

But "story wise" there is no problem in which order you watch them? As suppose to something like Manon of the Spring and Jean de Florette.

[FakeBonanza]

But "story wise" there is no problem in which order you watch them? As suppose to something like Manon of the Spring and Jean de Florette.

That's correct. There's no narrative continuity across the three movies.

[feihong]

Oh yeah is right on the money here. These are films that change and alter and which probably deepen with successive viewings, so the order in which you watch them is fairly immaterial--re-watching them is a worthwhile part of the experience. This trio really is a trilogy mostly in the sense of international marketing than any sense of narrative continuity between the films. They do share themes, but these movies also share themes with many later Antonioni films, and some earlier ones.

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

One can be fine having Red Desert as their first Antonioni just as much as having Identification of a Woman, Il Grido or Zabriskie Point.

Somewhat agree, although I certainly wouldn't recommend "Identification" as a first since it's much weaker than his earlier work, almost like "Antonioni light". Having reviewed most of his filmography recently, I'd say that the dialogue in "the trilogy" hasn't aged too well. In that respect I prefer his color films. "Red Desert", especially, was amazing, and "Zabriskie Point" came as quite a surprise knockout to me. As a film about the '68 generation it holds up quite well today compared to others of that kind. I would surely love to see that one in HD. The quite strong Warner dvd transfer seems to come from a 2K scan.

By the way, I still need to view, "The Mystery of Oberwald", the rarely talked about experiment in his work. OT. But could someone write a bit about that one?

[ellipsis7]

THE MYSTERY OF OBERWALD (1981) is a reunion for MA with an older Monica Vitti in a period piece (unusually for him) shot on SD analogue video, where he used the then state-of-art video effects (mainly manipulation of colours) to further his exploration of the cinematic medium and chromatic range... It was commissioned as a piece for Italian television, RAI... The effects and image quality can be seen as pretty primitive now, given the subsequent advances in HD digital technology & CGI effects... Another exception for MA is that the drama was based on a preexisting work by fellow filmmaker (& artist) Jean Cocteau, L'AIGLE A DEUX TETES, written as a play in 1943 and then filmed by the Frenchman in 1948, and again produced by French television in 1975... It is essentially a melodramatic narrative and less characteristic of Antonioni's overall oeuvre... A more familiar trope is however apparent in the concept of two characters doubling or substituting for one another...

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

Thanks! Doesn't sound too thrilling. I guess you would place it in the lower tier of his work? Being a completist, I will have to get around to watching it, although it doesn't sound like a must see...

[ellipsis7]

If not essential, it is nevertheless a key link and interesting engagement with the video culture & technology of the early '80s... Closest comparison I guess is this pop video FOTOROMANZA he made with Gianna Nannini in 1984...

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

Interesting. Thanks, I will have to check it out.

By the way, I was lucky enough to catch a 35mm showing of Chung Kuo. Even though it's a documentary, I think that it's a shame that it is too often neglected in his filmography. Quite a striking, sometimes disconcerting, and in many ways unique look at China that no Western director would be allowed to film today, I think.

[ellipsis7]

That 35mm print would have been a blowup from the original Super 16mm negative on which it is shot... I was in Beijing last November (my eldest son is based for work in China & speaks fluent Mandarin) & it was fascinating to see some of MA's locations in the flesh & old men playing Mahjong oblivious to any political climate or cultural change while the ancient & modern are unjarringly juxtaposed in cause of progess forward rooted in the past, a lot of contradictions coexisting if not reconciled, so I don't know if I agree with your point... This Senses of Cinema article gives an interesting perspective on CHUNG KUO CINA from a Chinese point of view...

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

Thanks for the link - I'll have to look into that when I have the time. And yes, it was blown up from 16mm, but still amazing to watch it on film.