L'Eclisse
Movie, 1962, Named by critics, Set in Third in the trilogy
L'Eclisse is #3 of 48 in release order and #27 of 48 in chronological order in the Spiritual Trilogies.
The story
Vittoria is a beautiful literary translator living in Rome. After splitting from her writer boyfriend, Riccardo, Vittoria meets Piero, a lively stockbroker, on the hectic floor of the Roman stock exchange. Though Vittoria and Piero begin a relationship, it is not one without difficulties, and their commitment to one another is tested during an eclipse.
L'Eclisse recap
In Rome in the summer of 1961, the translator Vittoria leaves her fiance Riccardo after a long, exhausted night of talking. She goes to the Rome Stock Exchange to find her mother, who gambles on shares, and meets her mother's young broker Piero, a restless man who lives for the trading floor. Vittoria spends an evening with her neighbours, including a woman back from Kenya. The market then crashes and her mother loses a large sum; Piero walks Vittoria home and tries to kiss her. While they talk below her window, a drunk steals Piero's sports car, and it is later pulled from a lake with the thief dead inside, which bothers Piero mainly because of the dented bodywork. The two start an affair in his parents' empty flat and in his office, though Vittoria tells him she wishes she did not love him, or loved him more. It closes Antonioni's Alienation Trilogy, again with Monica Vitti as a woman unsure what she feels.
L'Eclisse ending explained
Neither lover turns up for their date. After a last meeting in Piero's office, Vittoria and Piero promise to meet that evening at their usual corner near a building site. The film then leaves them entirely. For the last several minutes it watches the empty street corner as evening falls: places and passers-by seen earlier in the film, a water barrel, a bus stop, a nurse with a pram, the unfinished building. The streetlights come on and the film ends on a close-up of a lamp, with no sign of either of them.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch L'Eclisse
L'Eclisse isn't on a US streaming service right now. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Fandango At Home.
Ratings
IMDb 7.6/10, Rotten Tomatoes 87%
Where it fits
- Release order: after La Notte, before A Fistful of Dollars.
- Chronological order: after La Notte, before O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
Cast
- Alain Delon as Piero
- Monica Vitti as Vittoria
- Francisco Rabal as Riccardo
- Lilla Brignone as Vittoria's Mother
- Rossana Rory as Anita
- Mirella Ricciardi as Marta
- Louis Seigner as Ercoli
- Cyrus Elias as Intoxicated Man (uncredited)
- Alba Maiolini as Woman at the Stock Market (uncredited)
- Maria Tedeschi as Woman with Glasses at the Stock Market (uncredited)
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni.