An alienating love story

Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'Eclisse" ("The Eclipse") is a difficult film to discuss without providing a more personal angle. Years ago I found myself at a screening of "L'Eclisse" and I had never seen an Antonioni film before, but had heard many good things. Well, my hopes were somewhat dashed, considering I fell asleep less than 15 minutes into the film. When I awoke, the room was still dark and I found myself staring at a screen of desolate city landscapes in Rome until the word "FINE" suddenly appeared on the screen. It was all over, and "L'Eclisse" wasn't even available on DVD, so I was out of luck until the recent release of the film. \nSince the unfortunate sleep incident, I had since seen many of Antonioni's other films including the intriguing "Blow-Up," the noirish "Story of A Love Affair" and "L'Avventura" and "La Notte," two incredible films preceding "L'Eclisse" in what is considered Antonioni's trilogy of lost love and alienation. \n"L'Eclisse" tells the story of Vittoria (Monica Vitti, who appears throughout the trilogy), a woman whose relationship with Riccardo (an underused Francisco Rabal) has fully disintegrated. She is lost, confused and often left alone in her apartment with no one until a run-in with local stock market obsessor Piero (a young Alain Delon) leaves her even more emotionally bewildered. Can they discover love, or are they doomed to be distant?\nLike I said, it is a difficult film to discuss, mainly because there is so much going on in the film when there is so little to work off of. Every emotion counts and the world the characters live in is completely alienating. This isn't a bustling Rome but rather a lonely and sometimes discomforting one. \nThe performances Vitti and Delon offer are physically and emotionally convincing. Often it is Delon trying to make a move, but the gorgeous Vitti is quick to go from interested to incapable of affection. They are at times so erotically charged but it becomes almost frustrating to see Vitti pushing Delon away when her reasons go unexplained. \nExtras on this two-disc set are rather slim. The first disc contains the film along with audio commentary. The print is gorgeous but does have the occasional flicker found in older celluloid reels. Disc two contains the documentary, "Michelangelo Antonioni: The Eye That Changed Cinema," a wonderful retrospective of his work up to 1995's "Beyond the Clouds." There is also a short 22-minute interview piece, "Elements of Landscape," which is essential to understanding not only "L'Eclisse" but the themes found throughout many Antonioni films. A booklet of essays and Antonioni's own writings round out the set. \nWhile it has been said that "L'Eclisse" is Antonioni's best work, something I would completely agree with, it isn't the best film to begin with if you're interested in studying one of Italy's greatest auteurs. I'd recommend "Blow-Up" for starters and then go from there, one day discovering the beautiful loneliness within "L'Eclisse"