L'Eclisse | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Michelangelo Antonioni |
Produced by | Robert and Raymond Hakim |
Written by | Michelangelo Antonioni Tonino Guerra Elio Bartolini Ottiero Ottieri |
Starring |
Alain Delon Monica Vitti Francisco Rabal Louis Seigner |
Music by | Giovanni Fusco |
Cinematography | Gianni Di Venanzo |
Edited by | Eraldo Da Roma |
Distributed by |
Cineriz (Italy) Times Film Corporation (USA) The Criterion Collection |
Release date
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Running time
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126 minutes |
Country | Italy |
Language | Italian English |
Box office | 470,764 admissions (France) |
L'Eclisse (English: "Eclipse") is a 1962 Italian drama film written and directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and starring Alain Delon and Monica Vitti. Filmed on location in Rome and Verona,L'Eclisse is about a young woman who breaks up with an older lover and then has an affair with a confident young stockbroker whose materialistic nature eventually undermines their relationship. The film is considered the last part of a trilogy which was preceded by L'Avventura (1960) and La Notte (1961). In Martin Scorsese's documentary My Voyage to Italy, the director called L'Eclisse the boldest film in Antonioni's trilogy. L'Eclisse won the Special Jury Prize at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Palme d'Or.
On a Monday of July 1961, at dawn, Vittoria (Monica Vitti), a young literary translator, breaks off her relationship with Riccardo (Francisco Rabal) in his apartment in the EUR residential district of Rome, following a long night of conversation. Riccardo tries to persuade her to stay, but she tells him she no longer loves him and leaves. As she walks the deserted early-morning streets past the EUR water tower, Riccardo catches up and walks with her through a wooded area to her apartment building, where they say their final goodbyes.
Sometime later, Vittoria visits her mother (Lilla Brignone) at the frantic Rome Stock Exchange, which is very busy upon Vittoria's entrance. A young , Piero (Alain Delon), overhears an inside tip, rushes to purchase the stocks, and then sells them at a large profit. He introduces himself to Vittoria; he is her mother's stock broker. Following the announcement of a colleague's fatal heart attack, the room erupts back into frenzied activity. Outside the building, Vittoria and her mother walk to an open market nearby. Vittoria attempts to discuss her own recent breakup, but her mother is preoccupied with her earned profits.