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Monica Vitti, Alain Delon, Lilla Brignone, Francisco Rabal, Rosanna Rory ... see more see more... , Cyrus Elias , Louis Seigner , Mirella Ricciardi , Rossana Rory

In this challenging drama by Michelangelo Antonioni, his characteristic long, significant periods of silence punctuate the message that people just cannot seem to communicate with each other. Capping ... read more read more...off Antonioni's previous two films (L'avventura and La Notte) in much the same style, this tale involves a woman, Vittoria (Monica Vitti), who has just suffered the break-up of an imperfect relationship with a staunch intellectual (Francisco Rabal). Piero (Alain Delon), a stockbroker, casts his romantic gaze in Vittoria's direction and the woman gradually relents and they begin a tentative affair. There is much to appreciate in this man who is not overly intellectual and is blessedly free of complications, and the same can be said of Vittoria. Yet their innermost fears play upon both of them in ways that go against an honest expression of their love -- and against a lasting relationship. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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89% liked it

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Critics

87% liked it

15 critics

Unrated, 2 hr. 3 min.

Directed by: Michelangelo Antonioni

Release Date: January 1, 1962

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DVD Release Date: March 15, 2005

Stats: 349 reviews

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L'Eclisse Monica Vitti as Vittoria L'Eclisse Love L'Eclisse L'Eclisse Monica Vitti and Alain Delon L'Eclisse
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Flixster Reviews (349)

  • brooklynspo
    July 31, 2007
    brooklynspo
    Monad. I just wanted to say monad.
  • ebs90
    August 23, 2010
    ebs90
    It's useless to try to describe it. You just have to watch it. A classic of Italian cinema, about mediocrity, and being lost, and meaninglessness.

    "Siamo in media". We're in the middle.
  • rubystevens
    September 12, 2008
    rubystevens
    the bored and the beautiful. stunning film, especially the uncompromising ending. get your existential angst here. i liked this more than l'avventura tho i probably need to watch that one again now...
  • binky013
    September 4, 2008
    binky013
    The Eclipse

    Okay, after reading my flixster buddies' comments about L'Elisse, I feel as if I must apologize in advance for what I'm about to say -- in general.

    Yes, I admit it, I jumped into the trilogy with La Notte, which, if you've read my comments,

    ... read more you know I like.

    Walter, I did not give up on this one -- I stuck it out. This being said, I'm that much the older, but, I fear, not much the wiser.

    Off-topic. Kind of. You be the judge. Has anyone who's actually reading this, having slogged through the above mire, read Haruki Murakami's short story entitled "The Elephant Vanishes"? Well, if not, it's a story about balance, in part, and about proportion, in part, and about mystery, in part, and about individual interest -- again, in part. And it's probably about more, but it's just a wee bit outside of "fresh in my mind." I have a small-sized memory.

    When an elephant suddenly disappears into proverbial thin air, what are we to think? I think some of us would think nothing. And for sure some of us would think something. And I truly believe that some of us would explore this phenomenon to the end of time, ala Fox Mulder.

    If I'd have come to this third part of Antonioni's trilogy before seeing La Notte, I can pretty much guarantee you that I would not ever have seen La Notte. The personal interest angle would be nil. But since I saw La Notte first -- the middle section of the trilogy -- I decided to check out the hind quarters, as it were, of this particular elephant.

    And what did I find? I found something lacking in all proportion to the middle. Something is out of whack with this part three installment. If you are going to do a trilogy -- and I never even saw the first film, as I've already said, so I apologize -- you should look for balance. Trust me, given my wholly biased perceived imbalance between part two and part three, I will not pursue, at my age, watching part one. Time is short, and precious. I actually learned this from watching La Notte. Believe it. Or not.

    Anywaysies, as my buddy Allison might say, this particular capstone is shrunkenly lacking, compared to the middle part. No pun intended, this baby is so black-and-white that even the idea of mystery is stripped to the bone like the bleached white skeletons incorporating an elephant graveyard. But I digress.

    But . . .

    Still, I would go on, but I hope I've already made my point. This one is very disappointing, like the way I feel when I realize that vanishing an elephant is not so simple as digging a time-worthy Shawshankian tunnel under the elephant's cage. It's actually, perhaps, the elegant possibility of warping reality, time, and me -- the reader. But L'Eclisse hardly comes up to, hardly fulfills, that degree of possibility. I'm at the thinking-nothing-about-this-anymore stage, beginning right now as I stop typing. But what do I know? I'm no Fox Mulder. I'm certainly not even the half shadow of a Tia Leone.
  • mjgildea
    October 15, 2007
    mjgildea
    There were certain aspects of this movie that left me absolutely floored. Antonioni's composition (because every frame in this movie is a beautiful photograph), his use of sound (or lack thereof) namely in the first 20 minutes and in the last ten as well as the obnoxious stock ex... read morechange scenes.

    And how can anyone neglect to make adoring mention of the luminous Monica Vitti?

    But for as beautiful as L'Eclisse was I couldn't bring myself to fall in love with it. For me it was a lot like Vitti's character, Vittoria--cold, beautiful and distant. The story was kind of So What. I'm sure I need to watch it again, but I wasn't blown away by the total package. It's a great piece of art, but not a great movie as far as I'm concerned. But that's just me.
  • jimbotender
    August 26, 2009
    jimbotender
    Antonioni masterfully juxtaposes the drastic male and the imperfect female,Vitti transforming in a black/white wraith,choking in the decreasing moods of New Italy.And yet,why can't there be a fitting hole for the cloistered emotions,the hapless devotions?Is it dreariness or more ... read moreunanswered questions...?
  • aninnan
    September 1, 2010
    aninnan
    Missed the plot because I was too busy admiring Alain Delon and Monica Vitti. Oh, there wasn?t one? Ok. They might be the sexiest couple to ever be committed to screen, but seriously Antonioni, sometimes there?s more to life that watching beautiful dissatisfied rich people. Oh, t... read morehere isn?t? Ok. Let?s look at them a little longer then. Man they are gorgeous.
  • CJClark28
    May 31, 2008
    CJClark28
    Perhaps my favorite Antonioni film next to Blowup. This movie is incredibly sensual, and again, as with all his movies, patience is a virtue. I know, I know, in American culture everything is gimme gimme gimme! Even back in the 1960's. But if you sit back and savor these movies, ... read moreallow the depth and layers to unravel themselves to you, I promise it is worth it, and worth the experience.

    Monica Vitti is so adorable, and yet so utterly enigmatic all at once, it's just impossible not to fall in love with her. Alain Delon, plays a slick, shrewd young stockbroker who experiences this first hand, and the ending scenes with them is what love is all about.

    Another element worth mentioning, as in all Antonioni films, is the cinematography. From the opening frame you know you're in for a treat. And the last several shots either leave you asking, wtf?, or, proclaiming the man an outright genius. I prefer the latter.
  • columbiatch
    September 3, 2007
    columbiatch
    Absolutely amazing. Probably my favorite of the trilogy (slightly above L'Avventura) although I haven't seen La Notte yet. Such a beautiful film, every frame is like a modern art photograph. The ending is one of most amazing and haunting ever. Monica Vitti is a goddess.

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Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
July 31, 2007
Variety Staff, Variety

Vitti once again proves an ideal performer for Antonioni's thematics in what is probably her best role to date. Full Review

Bosley Crowther
May 10, 2005
Bosley Crowther, New York Times

All there is to the drama -- a prolonged detailed illustration of the moody surrender of the woman to a rare and elusive love. This takes, for its full illumination, a few minutes over two hours. Full Review

Douglas Pratt
April 21, 2005
Douglas Pratt, Hollywood Reporter

...sit back, suppress the subtitles so they don't distract you from the images and let the 125-minute movie suspend and substitute your consciousness like the moon passing in front the sun.

Jonathan Rosenbaum
January 1, 2000
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

The conclusion of Michelangelo Antonioni's loose trilogy (preceded by L'Avventura and La Notte), this 1961 film is conceivably the best in Antonioni's career, but significantly it has the least conseq... Full Review

Jason Anderson
July 31, 2007
Jason Anderson, eye WEEKLY

The vitality Vitti displays makes her absence deeply felt in the film's infamously ambiguous final scenes. Full Review

Philip French
July 31, 2007
Philip French, Observer [UK]

Vitti's elegant languor is contrasted with the cacophony of the Rome stock exchange, which is the director's metaphor for the madness of unrestrained capitalism. Full Review

Peter Bradshaw
July 31, 2007
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

The characters' emotional twilight is unsettlingly conveyed by this piece of celluloid mood music. Full Review

August 29, 2006
TV Guide's Movie Guide

One watches -- and, perhaps more importantly, hears -- the modern world through his rendering of emotion, architecture, chaos, boredom, silence, and incommunicability. Full Review

Michael E. Grost
August 22, 2006
Michael E. Grost, Classic Film and Television

Dymanic, inventive look at modern life and love in Rome. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
July 30, 2006
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Antonioni's love story is much like a sci-fi story. Full Review

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  • Which actress was Michelangelo Antonioni's early '60s muse, gracing some of his greatest films: L'AVVENTURA, LA NOTTE, L'ECLISSE, and RED DESERT?  Answer »
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