--- title: "L'Eclisse" year: 1962 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/leclisse" fi1m_id: "leclisse" imdb_id: "tt0056736" tmdb_id: 21135 wikidata_id: "Q1468980" fi1m_score: 88 critics_score: 82 critics_reviews: 8 published: "2026-09-26T14:33:42.657614+00:00" updated: "2026-09-26T14:33:55.992224+00:00" region: "PL" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # L'Eclisse (1962) Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni · 2h 06m · PISF 12 · Drama, Romance ## Identity L'Eclisse - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/leclisse - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** leclisse - **IMDb ID:** tt0056736 - **TMDB ID:** 21135 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1468980 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056736/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/21135, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1468980 **Fi1m score: 88** · Critics 82 from 8 reviews *In a sentence:* Two people fail to fall in love in a suburb that was finished last week > Antonioni’s third film with Monica Vitti is slow, exact and finally overwhelming. A woman leaves one man and half-falls for another in a Rome that looks finished but not yet lived in. Give it the patience it asks for; it repays it. ## Synopsis Rome, at the end of a long night. Vittoria (Monica Vitti), a translator, is leaving Riccardo (Francisco Rabal) after hours of saying so, in a flat where a fan turns and nothing else moves. She walks out into the EUR district, all white blocks and a water tower shaped like a mushroom, and goes to the Stock Exchange to find her mother (Lilla Brignone), who plays the market as other people play cards. There she meets Piero (Alain Delon), a young broker who shouts down the telephone and never sits still. Back at her flat, Vittoria drifts between her neighbours Anita (Rossana Rory) and Marta (Mirella Ricciardi), who has come from Kenya and misses it. Vittoria does not know what she wants. Piero is sure he wants her. ## Review Michelangelo Antonioni made three films in a row about people who have money, time and handsome rooms and cannot think what to do with any of them. *L’Avventura* and *La Notte* came first. *L’Eclisse*, written with Tonino Guerra, is the last and, we think, the best. It opens at the end of one affair and spends 126 minutes watching a woman decide whether to begin another. It is as good as its reputation, and we would send a stranger to see it, with the warning that the stranger should not expect to be told what it is about. Vittoria leaves Riccardo in the first scene, which has no beginning; the arguing is already over when we arrive. Antonioni then does something few directors would risk. He lets her walk. Gianni Di Venanzo shoots the EUR district, a new suburb on the edge of Rome, in flat hard daylight, white walls and long shadows, so that Vitti in a black dress is often the only dark thing in the frame. Piero Poletto’s interiors match: Vittoria’s flat has a lamp, a window and a great deal of floor. Bice Brichetto keeps her in black and white almost throughout, and Delon in narrow dark suits, so that both read as shapes before they read as people. We will be honest. The first twenty minutes bored us, and we began to resent the fan. Then Vittoria goes to the Stock Exchange and the film wakes up. Antonioni shoots the trading floor as a bear pit, men in suits screaming across a marble hall, and Eraldo Da Roma cuts it fast, for once, so that we are as lost as she is. A colleague has died and the whole room stops for a minute’s silence while the telephones keep ringing. Delon’s Piero is the man who answers one. When the crash comes, Lilla Brignone’s mother loses her money and blames the man beside her, and Louis Seigner’s Ercoli, the senior broker, watches like someone who has seen it all before. It is a satire, and it is also the only place in the film where anybody wants anything with their whole body. Vitti was Antonioni’s lead in all three films, and here she plays a woman who keeps testing her feelings to see if they are still there, the way you press a bruise. It could be maddening and it is not, because she is funny: watch her following a dog home at night, or failing to keep a straight face at her mother’s superstitions. Delon, already a star, plays Piero as a boy who has learned to move like a man and has not yet learned to stop. The two are good-looking enough that the film could have coasted on it. Instead their scenes together are all approach and retreat, a kiss through a pane of glass, a hand that stops short, and Giovanni Fusco’s music, spare and mostly withheld, stays out of them. What moved us was a small thing: the two of them agreeing to meet again and both looking, for a second, as though they already knew they would not. Not all of it holds up. The scene in Marta’s flat, where Marta talks about Kenya as a place where the natives need managing and Vittoria blacks up and dances, is the film’s worst ten minutes. Antonioni plainly means Marta’s remarks to expose her, and the dance to show boredom looking for a costume, but the joke lands on the wrong people and it did in 1962 too. Elsewhere the pace, which is the point, is sometimes only slow. Two or three of the walks through EUR could lose a minute each. The image most critics reach for is a car winched out of a lake, and it deserves them. Di Venanzo holds on the water draining from the wound-down window while a small crowd watches with the interest they would give a road being resurfaced. From there the film narrows to the question of whether two people will keep an appointment. The ending is famous and we will not describe it. We sat through the credits without moving. It is the best passage in any of the three films, and only Antonioni would have had the nerve to shoot it. It reached British cinemas on 17 January 1963. Watch it alone, or with someone you do not need to talk to, and do not check your phone in the first half hour. The last few minutes pay for all of it. *Fi1m score 88, published 26 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews are unanimous in their approval, and the praise settles on the same place: what the film looks like. Most critics single out the black-and-white compositions, the handling of light and shadow, and the way the frames are built, and nearly all of them come back to the closing sequence of Rome, which several regard as the film’s high point. Its mood of anxiety and disconnection is generally felt to have kept its force, and a few critics find a dry, mocking comedy in its picture of a life run on money. Where they part is over pace. Empire and Variety both find long stretches slow to the point of tedium, though each still ends up admiring Antonioni’s control and the ending in particular. Variety also wonders whether the director can push the approach any further. The spread is narrow otherwise, running from warm respect to outright reverence, with Little White Lies the most fervent. ## Straight answers **Is L'Eclisse worth watching?** *L'Eclisse* is worth watching for anyone with the patience to sit through a slow first half hour, and we scored it 88. Antonioni watches a woman decide whether to begin an affair, and gives no help with what it means. The Stock Exchange scenes wake it up, and the last few minutes pay for all the walking. **How long is L'Eclisse, and what is it rated?** *L'Eclisse* runs 2h 06m and is rated 12 by the PISF in Poland. It is a drama and romance film. **Where can I watch L'Eclisse in Poland?** *L'Eclisse* is not on any streaming or rental service in Poland at the moment. It is available in 8 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How does L'Eclisse compare to Hiroshima Mon Amour?** *L'Eclisse* is the calmer and more exact of the two, and [*Hiroshima Mon Amour*](https://film.one/film/hiroshima-mon-amour) the more openly emotional. Both are about a brief affair, held silences and a city, but Resnais lets the past cut into the present, while Antonioni stays in one long, empty week. We rate Antonioni's film higher; Resnais's is easier to feel and quicker to give up its meaning. **What should I watch after L'Eclisse?** After *L'Eclisse*, try [*Hiroshima mon amour*](https://film.one/film/hiroshima-mon-amour) (1959, Fi1m 87): Resnais on a brief affair, memory and a city; the same held silences. Then [*Certified Copy*](https://film.one/film/certified-copy) (2010, Fi1m 84): Kiarostami’s Tuscany walk-and-talk, a couple who may not be one; and [*Columbus*](https://film.one/film/columbus) (2017, Fi1m 82): Modern buildings and two stuck people; Kogonada has clearly watched Antonioni. ### Reviews we read (8) - **Little White Lies**, David Jenkins (5/5/5): Jenkins hails the film as one of cinema’s all-time greats, describing love and human connection as fragile and ultimately impossible. He singles out the cosmic finale as a staggering achievement that makes absence itself the film’s subject. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/leclisse-1962) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): Bradshaw finds the film gripping, visionary and strange, praising its ability to create an eerie atmosphere of anxiety and alienation. He singles out the image of a crashed car lifted from the water, with its dead joyrider’s hand visible, as unforgettable. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/27/leclisse-review-antonionis-strange-and-brilliant-film-rereleased) - **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (85/100, inferred): Lane regards the film as a lasting treasure whose images grow more compelling with each viewing. He especially praises its black-and-white shadows and the trancelike closing images of Rome. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/06/26/still-uneclipsed) - **Slant Magazine**, Jake Cole (4/5): The critic calls L’Eclisse the best film in Antonioni’s modernist trilogy and praises the Blu-ray presentation. He singles out the film’s striking compositions and its mordantly funny critique of capital-driven life. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/leclisse/) - **Time Out**, Tom Huddleston (4/5): Huddleston presents the film as a classic, steeped in postmodern angst and existential strife. The review singles out its satire of modern life as a defining quality. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/leclisse-the-eclipse) - **Empire**, David Parkinson (70/100, inferred): Parkinson finds the film both tedious and wonderful, ultimately praising Antonioni’s controlled, evocative approach. He singles out the ambiguous, meticulously composed ending as its master stroke. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/leclisse-review/) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (70/100, inferred): The review finds the film’s slow pace exasperating but its silences powerful, calling it an apt conclusion to Antonioni’s trilogy. It praises Antonioni’s mastery of cinematic style and Monica Vitti’s performance, while questioning whether the director can take this approach further. [Read](https://variety.com/1961/film/reviews/l-eclisse-1200420154/) - **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (80/100, inferred): Wilkinson finds the film’s exploration of alienation and disconnection still resonant. She especially praises its beautifully constructed frames and use of light, shadow and visual framing. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/leclisse-1962-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) ## Details - **Director:** Michelangelo Antonioni - **Director:** Michelangelo Antonioni - **Screenplay:** Michelangelo Antonioni, Tonino Guerra - **Story:** Tonino Guerra, Michelangelo Antonioni - **Cinematography:** Gianni Di Venanzo - **Editor:** Eraldo Da Roma - **Music:** Giovanni Fusco - **Production design:** Piero Poletto - **Costume design:** Bice Brichetto - **Producer:** Raymond Hakim, Robert Hakim - **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) - **Runtime:** 2h 06m - **Certificate (PISF):** 12 - **Release (Poland):** 13 September 2017 - **Genres:** Drama, Romance - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHUapLYEi4s ## Where to watch in Poland Not streaming, renting or buying in Poland at the last check. Also available in: AU, CZ, GB, HU, IN, NZ, RO, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *L'Avventura* (1960): The first of the three, with Vitti and a woman who simply vanishes. - *Hiroshima mon amour* (1959), Fi1m 87: Resnais on a brief affair, memory and a city; the same held silences. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/hiroshima-mon-amour.md) - *Vive L'Amour* (1994): Tsai Ming-liang’s Taipei, empty flats and three people who cannot connect. - *Certified Copy* (2010), Fi1m 84: Kiarostami’s Tuscany walk-and-talk, a couple who may not be one. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/certified-copy.md) - *Columbus* (2017), Fi1m 82: Modern buildings and two stuck people; Kogonada has clearly watched Antonioni. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/columbus.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/leclisse