La Notte

Paris Belongs to Us defies genre and defies even the loose standards of the New Wave. It does, however, undeniably represent the cinema of Jacques Rivette.

It is with L’Avventura that one truly gets the sense of ground being broken. That’s not to say it is the best film [Antonioni] ever directed (though I would argue it is), but this is the film of his that most clearly worked to usher in a new form of cinema, from which there was no turning back.

“L’eclisse” is the third film in Michelangelo Antonioni’s so-called “Trilogy of Alienation,” the preceding works having been “L’avventura” and “La notte.” While the three films taken together do explore many of the same themes relating to spiritual emptiness, the disbanding of relationships, and a struggle to communicate in an increasingly modern and alienating world, “L’eclisse” differs from the two earlier works most notably in its increasingly experimental style and its blatant departures from conventional storytelling and stylistic design.

“Though dealing with adults and serious adult situations, ‘Jules and Jim’ exhibits a formal sense of unbridled glee, with brisk editing, amusing asides, and a sinuously mobile camera. It is alive like few films are.”