Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

L' Eclisse Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 18, 2014

Winner of the Jury Special Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'Eclisse" (1962) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary with Richard Pena, former program director at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City and professor at Columbia University; Sandro Lai's documentary film "The Eye That Changed Cinema" (2001); and a video program featuring Italian critic and film scholar Adriano Apra and longtime Michelangelo Antonioni friend Carlo di Carlo. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring essays by film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum and Gilberto Perez, as well as excerpts from Michelangelo Antonioni's writing about his work. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"When we get there, I am going to kiss you"

Words seem almost meaningless in L’Eclisse. A casual gesture, a smile, even a simple look frequently reveals so much more about the men and women that appear in front of Michelangelo Antonioni’s camera.

The women look beautiful but jaded. Some have lovers and husbands to spend time with, but their lives feel empty. Others have grown tired of looking for the right partner and have prepared to accept any man that fate might bring to them. A few are so eager to be loved that they frequently look desperate. The men are elegant. They wear fine suits even when they are not trying to impress. Most of them, however, look alive only when there is positive news coming from the floor of the Rome stock exchange.

The beautiful translator Vittoria (Monica Vitti, Red Desert, Help Me My Love) has just broken up with her jealous boyfriend Riccardo (Francisco Rabal, Viridiana, Goya in Bordeaux). She likes her new freedom but feels lonely. A good friend introduces her to another lonely beauty that has spent time in Africa and admires the way people there enjoy the simple things life has to offer. The women try to entertain each other but quickly realize that they have nothing in common.

Unsure what to do with her free time the lonely Vittoria begins visiting her widowed mother (Lilla Brignone, Violent Summer), who spends the majority of her time at the stock exchange. Her broker, Piero (Alain Delon, Purple Noon), has made her a fortune and she could not be happier. But when the market crashes she panics, and instead of warning the brash broker after he begins following Vittoria, she welcomes him with open arms and asks him to advise her how to recoup her losses.

Meanwhile, Vittoria and Piero begin dating. They are attracted to each other, but both have different expectations – Vittoria wants pure romance and an assurance that their relationship has a future; Piero wants an uncomplicated yet intense relationship and the freedom to walk away from it when it no longer suits his needs.

Antonioni’s final film in black and white is unusually cynical yet indescribably beautiful. In it the Eternal City is buzzing -- there are traffic jams, the cafes are full, and the sun shines bright. People everywhere, it seems, are happy. But when Antonioni’s camera comes closer and looks into their eyes it is easy to see that they are sad, jaded, disillusioned.

The 'discovery' introduces a sense of alienation that permeates the entire film. Indeed, the film gradually creates the impression that its characters are in fact forced to coexist in a sterile world where they must obey cruel capitalistic rules and play games with each other that make them feel like disposable objects.

Even by current standards the film’s visual style is quite extraordinary. For example, the framing of some of the intimate scenes is very unusual -- instead of coming closer to the lovers, the camera frequently observes them from afar; the shapes and unique placement of beautiful objects are also carefully observed during these scenes as if to suggest that like the two lovers they are equally incompatible. Elsewhere there are superbly framed panoramic shots that temporarily make the Eternal City look like a futuristic city which might have been abandoned by its residents after a nuclear disaster.

Note: L’Eclisse is the final film in the Italian master’s Trilogy of Alienation (the other two films are L'Avventura and La Notte).

L' Eclisse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.86:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Eclisse arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit DataCine from two 35mm composite fine-grain master positives. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, an flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, and noise reduction.

The original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from various 35mm optical print track prints. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integrated workstation and iZotope RX 3.

Transfer supervisors: Lee Kline, Maria Palazzola.
Colorist: Jean-Marc Moreau/VDM, Paris; Skip Kimball/Modern VideoFilm, Burbank, CA."

There are various similarities between Criterion's new presentation of L'Eclisse and the company's presentation of Federico Fellini's 8½. Detail and especially clarity are undoubtedly improved. There are numerous close-ups, for example, where tiny details are now exceptionally easy to see (see screencapture #12). Generally speaking, the outdoor footage also boasts good depth. During the darker indoor footage, for example, it is easier to see small objects that appear soft or blurry on the DVD release. Grain is present throughout the entire film, but at times it is not as evenly resolved as it can be. Traces of light noise and grain corrections are also present (see screencaptures # 13 and 20). More sensitive viewers will likely spot small traces of light sharpening adjustments as well (see screencapture #21). The final result is still quite pleasing, but there is definitely room for some important improvements. Finally, image stability is excellent. Also, large debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, and scratches have been removed as best as possible. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

L' Eclisse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Italian LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless track is very good. I did some direct comparisons with the lossy track from Criterion's DVD release of L'Eclisse and I could immediately tell that the sound is thicker and better rounded on the Blu-ray. Additional work has been done to address areas of the film where background hiss used to be prominent as well. The dialog is stable, clean, and very easy to follow. Also, there are no pops, audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review.

L' Eclisse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Eye That Changed Cinema - a wonderful documentary film which focuses on the life and legacy of Michelangelo Antonioni. The film was made by Sandro Lai in 2001 and it also appears on Criterion's DVD release of L'Eclisse. In Italian, with optional English subtitles. (56 min, 1080p).

• Elements of Landscape - in this video program, Italian critic and film scholar Adriano Apra and Michelangelo Antonioni friend and collaborator Carlo di Carlo discuss the visual style of L'Eclisse, the unique relationship between Monica Vitti and Alain Delon's characters, some of the key themes in the film and their reappearance in Il Grido, L'Avventura, La Notte, and Red Desert, etc. The program, which is also inlcuded on Criterion's DVD release of L'Eclisse, was conducted exclusively for the American company in Rome in 2004. In Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. (23 min, 1080i).

• Commentary - audio commentary with Richard Pena, former program director at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City and professor at Columbia University. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Criterion in 2004, and initially appeared on the company's DVD release of L'Eclisse.

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring essays by film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum and Gilberto Perez, as well as excerpts from Michelangelo Antonioni's writing about his work.

L' Eclisse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I am slightly underwhelmed by this new release of Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Eclisse. It is a good one, but I wanted it to be a special one, like Criterion's recent release of Dino Risi's masterpiece Il Sorpasso. I think that an opportunity was missed to produce a truly definitive release of this so beautiful film, possibly with new and final exclusive interviews with its legendary stars, Alain Delon and Monica Vitti. Perhaps it wasn't possible, but I wanted to see more. Regardless, L'Eclisse should have a reserved spot in every serious collection. RECOMMENDED.