“Antonioni is one of my favorite directors of all time, and L'ECLISSE is one of his greatest films. Antonioni represented a level of ambition in cinema that has rarely been matched” Richard Peña

Discover or be mesmerized yet one more time by “L’Eclisse”, Michelangelo Antonioni’s masterpiece that redefined cinema in the 1960s, winning the Special Jury Prize at The Cannes Film Festival, and sealing the director’s place as one of modern film’s great visionaries.

+ Intro, post-screening analysis and Q&A with Richard Peña, Emeritus Professor, Columbia University and Director Emeritus, New York Film Festival.

ABOUT THE FILM

The concluding chapter of Michelangelo Antonioni’s informal trilogy (starring Monica Vitti) on contemporary malaise (following L’avventura and La notte), L’eclisse tells the story of a young woman (Monica Vitti) who leaves one lover (Francisco Rabal) and drifts into a relationship with another (Alain Delon). She navigates a fragile emotional landscape shaped by uncertainty, detachment, and the shifting rhythms of a rapidly modernizing city.

L’Eclisse (1962) is one of Michelangelo Antonioni’s most emblematic works and a key film of post-war Italian cinema, created at a moment when directors were moving beyond Neorealism to explore the psychological and social anxiety of modern life, toward introspection, ambiguity, and formal experimentation.

Rather than relying on plot, Antonioni builds meaning through atmosphere, silence, and the expressive use of urban space. Architecture, empty streets, and carefully composed frames become as important as the characters themselves. 

Using the architecture of Rome as a backdrop for the doomed affair, Antonioni achieves the apotheosis of his style in this return to the theme that preoccupied him the most: the difficulty of connection in an alienating modern world.

Monica Vitti (1931–2022) was an Italian actress known for her starring roles in films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni during the early to mid-1960s. After working with Antonioni, Vitti changed focus and began making comedies, working with director Mario Monicelli on many films. She appeared with Marcello Mastroianni, Alain Delon, Richard Harris, Terence Stamp, and Dirk Bogarde. She was known as the “Queen of Italian cinema.” Vitti won five David di Donatello Awards for Best Actress, seven Italian Golden Globes for Best Actress, the Career Golden Globe, and the Venice Film Festival Career Golden Lion Award. 

DIRECTOR'S BIO:

Michelangelo Antonioni (1912–2007) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, editor, and painter. He is best known for his “trilogy on modernity and its discontent”: “L’Avventura” (1960; screened at the 2022 Italian Film Festival of Minneapolis/St. Paul), “La Notte” (1961), and “L’Eclisse” (1962), as well as the English-language films Blow up (1966) and The Passenger (1975). His films have been described as “enigmatic and intricate mood pieces” that feature elusive plots, striking visual composition, and a preoccupation with modern landscapes. His work would substantially influence subsequent art cinema.

Antonioni received numerous awards and nominations throughout his career, including the Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize (1960, 1962) and Palme d’Or (1966), and 35th Anniversary Prize (1982); the Venice Film Festival Silver Lion (1955), Golden Lion (1964), FIPRESCI Prize (1964, 1995), and Pietro Bianchi Award (1998); the Berlinale Golden Bear (1961); the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon eight times; and an Honorary Academy Award for extraordinary lifetime achievement in 1994. He is one of three directors to have won the Palme d’Or, the Golden Lion, and the Golden Bear.