Anna, Claudia, and Anna’s boyfriend Sandro board a yacht with some other wealthy Italians and set sail for the stark and stunning Aeolian Islands, off the coast of Sicily. Despite the company and the vistas, Anna is disinterested and somewhat depressed. While she argues with Sandro over his long business trips and the lack of attention he provides, the boat docks at a bare, rocky island. After the tiff, she wanders off around the shore. When the weather starts to turn, the party wants to leave but realizes that Anna is still missing. First together, and then with the Italian Coast Guard, the group kicks off a search and rescue mission. How can Anna be missing on an island? Has she drowned? By accident? By suicide? Someone heard an engine—perhaps she boarded a different boat and left? The search continues on Sicily where Claudia and Sandro search for their friend. Claudia is initially furious with Sandro, suspecting his attitude towards Anna is partially to blame for her disappearance. But as she cools, Claudia and Sandro begin to sense a mutual attraction for one another. The next 90 minutes plays out with the two conflicted, rich people navigating their feelings of guilt, despair, and lust while searching for a friend against a stunning Sicilian backdrop.
This isn’t the first time I’ve watched a film considered, by some, to be one of the greatest films of all time—and it doesn’t do anything for me. “L’Avventura” is an art film “noted for its unusual pacing, which emphasizes visual composition, mood, and character over traditional narrative development” (Wikipedia). Boy isn’t that the case. There is shockingly little story for a 143 minute runtime. And while the film is undoubtedly beautiful, I’m sort of convinced that anyone could point a camera at moody, beautiful people in front of stunning, ancient vistas and come out with a beautiful film. That’s not to say the camera doesn’t do interesting things. When shots chose to drift with our characters, stay in one place, or continue rolling on unfolding emotion was Grade-A stuff. But these choices weren’t enough for me to sink my teeth into this one. Anna, Claudia, and Sandro were hardly interesting to me. I don’t think I have any time for characters who are bored or crabby, despite zipping through the Italian countryside in a convertible. LOL. I don’t need characters to be like able, or make ‘moral’ decisions, and forbidden love can be fun to watch. But this was dull. In truth, I was tired and split this screening over two nights, so I might have to give it another watch. But at 143 minutes, I don’t think I’m exactly clamoring to revisit it.