L'avventura (The Adventure) is an Italian film written and directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Monica Vitti and Gabriele Ferzetti star. Michelangelo Antonioni (born September 29, 1912 in Ferrara, Italy) is an Italian film director, writer and painter. ... Monica Vitti (born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli 3 November 1931 in Rome) is an Italian actor noted for her frosty expressiveness and starring roles in films by Michelangelo Antonioni. ...

Released in 1960 and booed by audiences at Cannes when it was first shown, L'avventura won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Although the film influenced the visual language of cinema, forever changing how subsequent movies looked, and has been named by some critics as one of the best ever made, it has been criticized by others for its allegedly slow pacing and existentialist themes. Along with much of Antonioni's other work, L'avventura is often cited as an early feminist film with strong and richly characterized female protagonists. Michelangelo Antonioni (born September 29, 1912 in Ferrara, Italy) is an Italian film director, writer and painter. ... Michelangelo Antonioni (born September 29, 1912 in Ferrara, Italy) is an Italian film director, writer and painter. ... Monica Vitti (born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli 3 November 1931 in Rome) is an Italian actor noted for her frosty expressiveness and starring roles in films by Michelangelo Antonioni. ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Overview of Cannes from Le Suquet The seaside town of Cannes, in southern France, as seen from a ferry speeding towards lîle Saint Honorat Cannes (Canas in Provençal) (pronounced ) is a city and commune in southern France, located on the Riviera, in the Alpes-Maritimes département. ... The Palais des Festivals in which the festival takes place. ... Existentialism is a philosophical movement emphasizing individualism, individual freedom, and subjectivity. ... Feminism is a social theory and political movement primarily informed and motivated by the experience of women. ...

It was produced on location in Italy under difficult financial and physical conditions and made Monica Vitti an international star.

The story begins with a group of rich couples from Rome (accompanied by Vitti's character) who take a boat trip and visit a virtually unpopulated volcanic island off the coast of Sicily. One of them, a young woman named Anna, wanders off and vanishes without a trace. The rest of the film follows the others as they react and search for her, then gradually adjust to her disappearance and drift back into their own lives. The story is somewhat centered on the relationship that develops between Anna's lover and her best friend. The final scene has nothing directly to do with Anna (except perhaps for the thought that her fate is unknowable) but much with how people cope with themselves and each other. Sicily (Sicilia in Italian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 sq. ...

Actress Monica Vitti in Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avventura (1960).

Image File history File links Monica Vitti in Michelangelo Antonionis LAvventura (1960). ... Image File history File links Monica Vitti in Michelangelo Antonionis LAvventura (1960). ...

External links

• New York Times review