L'Eclisse

1962 Michelangelo Antonioni
Last of trilogy; L'Avenntura, La Notte- absolutely incredible
use of harsh black and whites at the start, setting off
not at all neat, expressionist, cubist almost
fragmentation, key in the fragmented space
initially have scenes (on roads, in her room) where we get a kamikaze roundness of space
use of entrance/exit, a few sounds, and non continuity cuts to get a sense of the whole space
space is beyond what we see; characters sink into backdrop with costume
stock-market scene; use of longer shots throughout, mid shots here
the mid shots mean we know what's going on, but the space is then utterly fragmented
lack of continuity; not Hollywood close-ups, just confusion, loss of sense of place
time stops making sense, in chaos of market shot from a thousand angles
use of deep focus and differing contrasts give wider space again
characters as unexplainable, part of backdrops
actions that we can't explain; stay with Monica Vitta
She makes one of the great performances, hedonistic but self-knowing, blank
doesn't know what she wants herself
tip into hysteria, lose herself, then return (Blacking-up / lovemaking)
distance between characters in assymetrical framing, small touches
in the stunning final sequence, space takes centre stage
as does light
wonderful, gives time to think (relate to Ozu), but also powerful in itself
A film that gets the deepest into the pauses that makes up relationships
then goes beyond that, in graphic abstraction, to the heights of the cinema