Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau play husband and wife in Antonioni's study of emptiness and sterility in modern life and relationships.
It opens with their visit to a hospitalized friend dying of cancer. They are on their way to a party for the publication of Giovanni's (Mastroianni) new novel, but the celebration is cut short when Lidia (Moreau) informs him, en route, that he disgusts her and she no longer wants to live with him.
She leaves the party and wanders the barren streets for the remainder of the night, while Giovanni chases after Valentina (Vitti), the young daughter of an industrialist who has offered him a job. When Lidia and Giovanni confront one another at home later, the news of a friend's death that night
draws them together once again.
Much of Antonioni's greatness is evident in this picture--the seemingly hopeless relationship between a man and a woman, the overwhelming environment which is devoid of emotion, and the quietly observant camerawork. But at the same time Antonioni is sometimes painfully obvious with his use of
symbolism. One of the film's major faults lies in its casting of Mastroianni, who simply doesn't fit his role. This problematic film serves more as a transition for Antonioni than anything else, and seems to make even less sense when screened without having seen his previous film, the masterful
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