L'Avventura - 1960 - 4 Stars

Actors: Gabriele Ferzetti, Monica Vitti
Director:  Michaelangelo Antonioni

I'm not sure I've seen a more stunning black-and-white film than L'Avventura.  Thing is, I can't even imagine how difficult it is to try to shoot this kind of film in black-and-white, because how can you be sure how color textures will go together when they're reduced to shades of two colors?  No matter.  There's a myriad of terrifically composed shots in here.

L'Avventura is one of those films where at every moment, the characters' feelings, thoughts, and actions all make sense, but when you look at the film as a whole, they simply does not.  Which is fine - it seems Antonioni is going for a scripted Cassevetes feel, where it's only the moments that matter.  Part of me also thinks that the actions in the film don't make sense because the characters do not have cell phones (or lack easy communication with people who are not present) - it's interesting to think about how that changes our perception of the way people should be reacting to one another.