L'Avventura - Criterion Collection

L'Avventura - Criterion Collection
by Michelangelo Antonioni

L'Avventura - Criterion Collection

List Price: ~~$39.95~~
Our Price: $23.99
You Save: $15.96 (40%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $17.39 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details

Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD details

Actor: Dominique Blanchar, Gabriele Ferzetti, Lea Massari, Monica Vitti, Renzo Ricci
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Brand: Image Entertainment
Cinematographer: Aldo Scavarda
Writer: Michelangelo Antonioni
Editor: Eraldo Da Roma
Producer: Amato Pennasilico
Writer: Elio Bartolini
Writer: Tonino Guerra
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 143 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-06-05
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion

DVD Reviews of L'Avventura - Criterion Collection

DVD Review: A woman's perspective on man's fecklessness
Summary: 5 Stars

This film challenges people because it challenges all preconceptions about narrative storytelling. It dispenses with any of the usual motivations that drive characters and their stories and, in the process, achieves an even greater sort of truth, as how many of us go through life living out a plot of some kind? What story there is in L'Avventura is built around a McGuffin (a lady vanishes), but the film is really just playing with our sense of space and perspective, building our awareness of what is going on in ways that are contrary to conventional narratives. Antonioni feeds us what we need to know, but in an elliptical way, and what we need to know is how human relationships are as random and impossible as neat storylines. The ultimate story is of a man's utter weakness, his compulsion for companionship married to an utter inability to commit. But, what is novel is that the story is told from the perspective of the woman, not the man. And what a woman! Monica Vitti was one of those rare gems in cinema: spectacular looks combined with equally spectacular acting ability.

DVD Review: If you can't out-act a post...
Summary: 2 Stars

On its initial screening at Cannes, this movie was heartily booed. When I finally build that time machine, one of my first stops will be to go back and join that chorus of boos - lustily even. The movie then turned around and won some pretentious prize because the judges figgered, Hey, if WE don't understand it, it MUST be genius. And of course the legions of the pretentious have fallen right in line.

First off, the main thing that's praised is the cinematography, which is unquestionably praiseworthy. However, you can get genius composition by attending the show of a good photographer, if that's what you are after. Hopefully, his/her compositions won't be repeatedly soiled by people bemoaning how terrible it is to be beautiful and rich.

So then the note cribbers will invariably move on to talk about the juxtapositions of framing. What the...? When did a character framed in a doorway become symbolic of man's inner struggle for meaning - especially if done to death? Thought process must go, Antonioni's a genius, therefore this must only SEEM static and dull. Must...uncover...genius.

But really, I could have put up with the lack of anything happening if every frame hadn't been filled with the non-tension between the Beauty and the Beast. Seriously, what kind of wunderland of mid-life crisis must 50's/60's Italian cinema have been when practically every film features some guy in his 40s+ diddling some hot chick in her 20s. Not so bad, but said hot chicks are invariably DESPERATE for the attentions of 40s-troll-man whereas advance-aged boy-man just doesn't know if he's into it or not. Welkommen aus fantasialand! And this movie is the worst of the bunch because that is pretty much ALL that happens. Implication is that hot blonde needs Don Barzini so much that she can't resist his manifest non-charms, when for at least 2 hours your brain is rebelling against the insanity, screaming Just go back to Rome! Can't stand it.

Then there's more unlikable people doing annoying things, an Antonioni staple apparently. By the end I was desperately hoping that the cringe-inducing mimes from Blow Up would show up to rescue some form of meaningful absurdity out of the non-event that is this movie.

DVD Review: Maybe Best and Most Accessible Antonioni
Summary: 4 Stars

"The Adventure" is a sibling of another Italian masterpiece shot in 1960, Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" - if you have seen that one, don't miss this. The theme is similar; mostly unsatisfying life of the rich drifting from one pleasure to another at all cost. At about half-point in run time, "Avventura" gently and for a viewer almost unwittingly shifts from being a kind of mystery (search for a missing young woman) to a deep psychological study of Claudia (Monica Vitti in a breakthrough performance at one level with any work of her more famous compatriots, Sofia Loren and Anna Magnani), who finds herself in a romance with a man who once dated the missing girl. The characters' motivations are completely understandable, realistic and deep at the same time. Even a contrast between the rich and the poorer people occurs once or twice (indicating that money is no sure way to happiness) and the quietly powerful ending just indicates the strong confines the vain lifestyle is exerting on those indulging in it. The film is deliberately paced, but very rewarding and if you found "Blow Up" too artsy, "L'Avventura" may just be your cup of tea.

DVD Review: and no, tom hanks is not my favorite actor.
Summary: 2 Stars

i first saw this movie back in...2009 and i didn't like it. maybe if i'd seen in when it came out in 1960 i'd understand what the fuss is about. it was pleasant to see sicily 15 years after the war hence the 2 stars. i imagine that, like the rest of the western world, the island is a dump anymore. skip it.

DVD Review: A Work of Art
Summary: 5 Stars

If you are looking for a film with a coherent plot, look elsewhere. It you want to see a work of art--by which I mean a beautifully photographed, atmospheric film you can easily lose yourself in and, in the end, feel like you have experienced something beautiful, painful, and surreal--then this film is likely perfect for you. Do not expect any lose ends to be tied up at the end of the film, however. This is NOT a conventional film. If you are looking for standard storytelling, look elsewhere. If you believe, as I do, that great films do not necessarily have to be simply vehicles for a story, but can be works of art in themselves--like paintings, photographs, or works of music--then hopefully you will appreciate this film as much as I did.

Description of L'Avventura - Criterion Collection

A girl mysteriously disappears on a yachting trip. While her lover and her best friend search for her across Italy, they begin an affair. Antonioni's penetrating study of the idle upper class offers stinging observations on spiritual isolation and the many meanings of love. Criterion is proud to present this milestone of film grammar in a new Special Edition double-disc set.

Considered by many to be his masterpiece, L'Avventura positioned Michelangelo Antonioni as an international talent. What appears to be a search for a missing person is actually an examination of alienation and self-discovery found along a voyage through the morally decadent world of the idle rich. Less concerned with a smooth plotline, Antonioni tells his story through the use of symbolic images and flawless character development. Using 'real time' camera shots and rich, landscape imagery, Michelangelo Antonioni creates an unpredictable world where nothing is ever resolved. Ironically, what makes L'Avventura so unpredictable is the high level of realism portrayed by each character and their environments. This isn't your packaged, formulaic film with a happy ending. A tough one to watch but well worth it...and it gets better and better with repeat viewings. L'Avventura is quintessential Antonioini. Not to be missed. --Rob Bracco

General DVDs

DVD Video

Bestsellers in General DVDs

Best in Show
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2001-05-15; DVD
Best price: $6.22
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

The Lives of Others
Sony; Release date: 2007-08-21; DVD
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops: ~~$14.94~~

Pan's Labyrinth
VERDU,MARIBEL; Release date: 2007-05-15; DVD
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops: ~~$12.98~~

Chocolat (Miramax Collector's Series)
Disney; Release date: 2001-08-07; DVD
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops: ~~$14.99~~

Amelie
Disney; Release date: 2002-07-16; DVD
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops: ~~$19.99~~

Life Is Beautiful
Disney; Release date: 1999-11-09; DVD
Best price: $4.58
Price in other shops: ~~$19.99~~

Gomorrah (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
IMAGE ENT.; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $23.48
Price in other shops: ~~$39.95~~

Let The Right One In
MAGNOLIA FILMS; Release date: 2009-03-10; DVD
Best price: $7.62
Price in other shops: ~~$26.98~~

The Ultimate Gift
Ultimate; Release date: 2007-08-21; DVD
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

Slumdog Millionaire
TCFHE; Release date: 2009-03-31; DVD
Best price: $5.42
Price in other shops: ~~$29.98~~

Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs

Blow Up
HEMMINGS,DAVID; Release date: 2004-02-17; DVD
Best price: $12.91
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Mamma Roma - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2004-06-22; DVD
Best price: $23.50
Price in other shops: ~~$39.95~~

8 1/ 2 - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2001-12-04; DVD
Best price: $14.89
Price in other shops: ~~$39.95~~

The Lady Vanishes - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2007-11-20; DVD
Best price: $21.39
Price in other shops: ~~$39.95~~

Pandora's Box - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2006-11-28; DVD
Best price: $23.06
Price in other shops: ~~$39.95~~

Amarcord (Criterion Collection)
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2006-09-05; DVD
Best price: $21.00
Price in other shops: ~~$39.95~~

The Bicycle Thief
MAGGIORANI,LAMBERTO; Release date: 1998-11-24; DVD
Best price: $16.82
Price in other shops: ~~$24.99~~

La Notte
Genius; Release date: 2001-05-08; DVD
Best price: $13.28
Price in other shops: ~~$19.95~~

La Strada - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2003-11-18; DVD
Best price: $23.15
Price in other shops: ~~$39.95~~

L'Eclisse - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2005-03-15; DVD
Best price: $24.37
Price in other shops: ~~$39.95~~