L’Avventura

I saw Antonioni’s L’Avventura last night and much of the cast was at the screening. I’ve seen L’Avventura before but not in a theater. I’m now convinced that movie theaters were invented for this film. While it is great on a small screen, Antonioni’s long, drawn out shots that depend entirely on compostition are more impactful when seen on the big screen.

The best part of the screening was a sequence in which Monica Vitti walks out onto a porch. This shot is the poster for this years festival and when the audience realized this, everyone clapped. If there is one thing I will miss about Cannes it is how the audience claps for everything, EVERYTHING. It doesn’t matter if what is great, like this shot, is in the middle of the film, somebody always claps.