Opening Scene Of The 1962 Film L Eclisse
The opening scene of the 1962 film, L’eclisse, is quite strange from an editing standpoint. While I can not exactly understand what the actors are saying to do lingual differences, I notice the pace and cuts feel unnatural and highly forced. After analyzing the clip, I believe this was all intentional by the director, Michelangelo Antonioni.
The scene begins in the apartment of what appears to be a couple. The couple seems to be in a rather big argument. However, there are no clues or evidence that indicates what caused the disagreement. The atmosphere seems tense and both characters have bleak looks on their faces indicating there is a problem between them. There is also not a lot of communication between the two. The woman is seen standing, …show more content…
ready to leave, while the man is sitting showing disparity between the two. From this, it can be inferred that the woman is wanting to free herself from the relationship. There is no dialogue for the two minutes of the clip, instead it is just awkward silence and staring. When the characters finally do engage in conversation, it feels stressed. As the brief conversation comes to an end, the woman moves to another part of the home, in what appears to be an attempt to get away from the man. Although, as she rounds a corner, her partner is sitting in a chair. He seems to have swiftly moved from room to room. This seems to be provoke sense of fear in the woman as she backs away behind a wall and shows a terrified look on her face. The scene continues with more awkward pacing around the home and silence ensues. As the woman wanders around the home, she peers out several windows. As state earlier that she wants to leave, the desperate stares to the outside show she finds herself imprisoned by the glass separating her the rest of the world. After some time, the woman finally approaches the man. This sparks a conversation between the two that was different than the previous. Considerably longer than the first, this talk seems more civilized. The man is desperate to make things better, while the woman doesn’t appear to be interested in his efforts. The clip ends with the woman exiting the home with a few of her belongings and the man looks defeated and depressed.
Since this film is not in English and I can’t speak Italian, I had to rely on the actors and images to understand what was happening. There are several visual cues throughout the clip that makes up for the language barrier. Relying solely on small actions of the two characters and the way they interact with objects throughout the room, I can infer information about the relationship of the duo.
Moving on from the plot, the editing, arrangement of objects on screen, and movement of this scene play a major role in what is happening.
First, the arrangement of objects creates links to each character. Beginning with the man, in the opening shot you see a stack of books with a white object on top. It is revealed this is the man’s arm. As the scene progresses, the man is often off-frame and not centered. This shows the man is being objectified similarly to several other items in the apartment. On the other hand, the woman moves around constantly. The director made it very clear and important that the woman had to be moving at all times. For example, in the scene were her still legs are in view with the chair legs, she makes a conscious effort to dissociate with the stillness. As previously stated, the clip has an unusual editing pattern. This can be attributed to the flawed continuity editing. While continuity editing is meant to allow the viewer to engage themselves fully in the image, making the cuts seem to be part of the diegesis, L’eclisse does not do this. For instance, the opening scene shows the man sitting down and looking off into the distance that could be assumed to be an object or a person. When the scene cuts, it shows the woman turned away, looking out a window of the home. Instead of cutting the clip slightly earlier to have the woman facing the man, creating an eyeline match, the director creates a spatial disorientation for the viewer. As the clip progresses, there are several more flawed continuity cuts distracting the
viewer.
The scene begins in the apartment of what appears to be a couple. The couple seems to be in a rather big argument. However, there are no clues or evidence that indicates what caused the disagreement. The atmosphere seems tense and both characters have bleak looks on their faces indicating there is a problem between them. There is also not a lot of communication between the two. The woman is seen standing, …show more content…
ready to leave, while the man is sitting showing disparity between the two. From this, it can be inferred that the woman is wanting to free herself from the relationship. There is no dialogue for the two minutes of the clip, instead it is just awkward silence and staring. When the characters finally do engage in conversation, it feels stressed. As the brief conversation comes to an end, the woman moves to another part of the home, in what appears to be an attempt to get away from the man. Although, as she rounds a corner, her partner is sitting in a chair. He seems to have swiftly moved from room to room. This seems to be provoke sense of fear in the woman as she backs away behind a wall and shows a terrified look on her face. The scene continues with more awkward pacing around the home and silence ensues. As the woman wanders around the home, she peers out several windows. As state earlier that she wants to leave, the desperate stares to the outside show she finds herself imprisoned by the glass separating her the rest of the world. After some time, the woman finally approaches the man. This sparks a conversation between the two that was different than the previous. Considerably longer than the first, this talk seems more civilized. The man is desperate to make things better, while the woman doesn’t appear to be interested in his efforts. The clip ends with the woman exiting the home with a few of her belongings and the man looks defeated and depressed.
Since this film is not in English and I can’t speak Italian, I had to rely on the actors and images to understand what was happening. There are several visual cues throughout the clip that makes up for the language barrier. Relying solely on small actions of the two characters and the way they interact with objects throughout the room, I can infer information about the relationship of the duo.
Moving on from the plot, the editing, arrangement of objects on screen, and movement of this scene play a major role in what is happening.
First, the arrangement of objects creates links to each character. Beginning with the man, in the opening shot you see a stack of books with a white object on top. It is revealed this is the man’s arm. As the scene progresses, the man is often off-frame and not centered. This shows the man is being objectified similarly to several other items in the apartment. On the other hand, the woman moves around constantly. The director made it very clear and important that the woman had to be moving at all times. For example, in the scene were her still legs are in view with the chair legs, she makes a conscious effort to dissociate with the stillness. As previously stated, the clip has an unusual editing pattern. This can be attributed to the flawed continuity editing. While continuity editing is meant to allow the viewer to engage themselves fully in the image, making the cuts seem to be part of the diegesis, L’eclisse does not do this. For instance, the opening scene shows the man sitting down and looking off into the distance that could be assumed to be an object or a person. When the scene cuts, it shows the woman turned away, looking out a window of the home. Instead of cutting the clip slightly earlier to have the woman facing the man, creating an eyeline match, the director creates a spatial disorientation for the viewer. As the clip progresses, there are several more flawed continuity cuts distracting the
viewer.