Blogical Conclusion

LIFE GOES ON

NOV 21, 2009 – WHEN A WOMAN DISAPPEARS ON A CRAGGY Mediterranean island – literally disappears, vanishes into thin air (or the surrounding water) – what is one to make of this occurrence? In a mainstream movie, this would be the mysterious motor that powers the narrative. Who else was on the island? How were they related to her? Did anyone have a motive, anything to gain by her disappearance? Was there a married lover, perhaps, who was being blackmailed by her and who wanted to end his misery? Or was there a girlfriend, whose lover had been snatched away and who now sought revenge? Or was it simply an accident? Perhaps she slipped on seaweed and fell into the water and drowned. Perhaps she tripped on a rock and hurtled headlong into a crevasse known only to creation and time.

None of this is of any importance here. The woman – Anna (Lea Massari) – disappears and that’s that. A perfunctory investigation begins to play out, but nothing that titillates the audience about its outcome. (It’s perfectly safe to say no nails are going to bitten during these two-and-a-half hours.) After a while, lulled by the torpor of the deliberate pace, we even forget that the lady vanishes. What we begin to care about is what else happens? People don’t stop leading their own lives when something happens to someone they know and love. The loss is registered and a resolution is hoped for, but that doesn’t come in the way of everyday living – the trips to the grocer and the barber, the visits to the office and church, the gatherings around birthdays and deaths, the falling in and out of love. Life, in short, goes on.

Much has been made of the fact that L’avventura is some sort of companion piece to La Dolce Vita. Both were released the same year. Both deal with the lonely lives of the upper classes. (It cannot be coincidence that Anna’s disappearance occurs on an uninhabited island.) Both seem in no particular hurry to come to the point (if, indeed, there is any point). Both are obsessed with the banal minutiae of living. (A wife observes, here, “Once the Aeolian islands were many volcanoes.” Her husband sneers, “Twelve years ago, when we came here together, you came up with the exact same remark.”) But the difference is that Fellini’s film is about the people in it, while Antonioni is more interested in the happenings around them. Fellini is our tour guide through the main attractions, the showstoppers, whereas Antonioni holds our hand as we investigate the interstices.

This design is evident at the beginning, when Anna sets out on the cruise to the island, with her friend Claudia (Monica Vitti). They stop in front of a hotel to pick up Anna’s boyfriend Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti). Claudia says, “I’ll wait for you here, right?” But Anna, instead of heading upstairs to Sandro’s room, begins to walk away. Claudia asks, “Where are you going now?” Anna replies, “To the café. I’m thirsty.” Claudia is surprised. “While a man you haven’t seen for a month has been waiting half an hour for you?” Anna explains, “I feel as if I’d rather not see him today.” Claudia says, “But we rushed all the way here…” When Anna doesn’t respond, Claudia heads to the car. “I see… goodbye cruise.” And then, Anna begins to speak. “It’s harrowing having to be apart. Really.”

“It’s difficult keeping a relationship going, while one is here and the other there,” Anna says. “But it’s easy too. Understand? Whereas when somebody’s there facing you… that’s all you get. Understand?” Just then, Sandro pops out of a window above and shouts, “Anna! I’ll be right down!” Anna’s doubts appear to vanish in an instant. She hurries up the stairs and nearly collides with Sandro, who’s hurrying down. They go to his room. Anna smiles and begins to unbutton her dress. Sandro interrupts, “Your friend is downstairs, waiting.” Anna replies, “Let her wait.” She moves to the bedroom, allowing the dress to slip off. He follows her inside and envelops her in his arms, his lips on hers. Past her face, through the bedroom window, he catches sight of Claudia waiting below. He draws the curtains and settles into the bed with Anna.

Sandro enquires, “How are you?” Anna replies, “Awful.” He asks, “Why?” She repeats, “Why, why, why, why, eh?” He smiles, and as they begin to make love, we cut away to Claudia walking into the lobby below, where several people are taking in an exhibition of paintings. Where another film might have sought to resolve Anna’s mixed feelings about being with Sandro, we’ve now moved to what else happens, around the couple. Claudia moves past a man who asks the woman beside him, “What do you think?” The woman remarks, “Very original concept. And he really knows how to use paint.” Anna moves further along, where another observer offers this comment about the artwork in front of him. “Eh, this one has to starve for a while yet.” Claudia smiles. Anna may be grappling with an avalanche of emotions upstairs, but elsewhere life just goes on.

L’avventura (1960, Italian, English; aka The Adventure ). Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Starring Gabriele Ferzetti, Monica Vitti, Lea Massari.

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