L'Avventura

L’Avventura is a film of director Michelangelo Antonioni (Blow Up).

Two friends, Anna and Claudia, meet with Anna’s boyfriend Sandro and go with other friends on a trip to a rocky island. While they were there, Anna disappears, leaving no trace of her behind. The others start looking for her, but with exception of Claudia and Sandro, the others show no particular interest in finding her…

If you were seeing any other movie, its plot would deal with Anna’s disappearance and the effects this has on the characters. If that’s what you’re looking for, don’t even bother with this movie.

Halfway through the movie, Anna is completely forgotten by everyone, including her friend and her boyfriend, and is only mentioned once in a while, in case you forgot how the film began. The movie deals mainly with Sandro and Claudia’s relationship (avventura, beside an adventure, means a fling in English).

So… the movie has almost no plot. Yeah. That means it’s not for everyone. The movie replaces plot with beautiful sceneries, an interesting Character Development and of course, playing with the viewers’ expectations.

As an aside note, the movie had one of the most incredible instances of Vindicated By History: when it was released, the public founded it so slow and boring that they booed it in Cannes. It was after a second screening, and a bunch of essays written by critics defending the movie, when they started to admire it more.

This movie provides examples of:

 * Character Development: This is the plot of the movie.
 * Double Meaning Title: As it was said above, the title makes allusions to both an adventure (perhaps ironically) and a fling (which is more precise).
 * Fan Nickname: “Antonioniennui.”
 * Halfway Plot Switch
 * Leave the Camera Running: Some of the scenes, especially the ending.
 * MS Ting: Really, that’s what they did in Cannes.
 * Man Child: Sandro. He gets better at the end, though.
 * Never Found the Body: You never see Anna again, alive or dead.
 * Never Trust a Trailer: The trailer of the film makes it appear to be some sort of sexy, breeze romantic comedy. Certainly not what you're gonna find here.
 * Scenery Porn
 * True Art Is Incomprehensible: Antonioni was a big believer in this.
 * Vindicated By History