Ep. 73: L’eclisse

Flixwise Podcast

On today's show, we're sinking into the sweet embrace of existential despair. Host Lady P is joined by co-producer Martin Kessler, Battleship Pretension writer and Flixwise regular Scott Nye, and new friend of the show Lilly Holman, to evaluate Michelangelo Antonioni's 1962 classic L'Eclisse. They step through some of the films forays into genre cinema - including it's sci-fi, dystopian elements. Plus, they draw comparisons between the previous two films in Antonioni's Eros Trilogy and discuss how this film plays as an extension of the other two, both in terms of cinematography and pacing, and also its thematic material. They reflect on its anti-narrative ending, and consider if it’s worthy of its 73rd spot on the Sight and Sound List.

For the second topic, the gang continues on their existentialist kick, with an exploration of how Antonioni's brand of upper-class urban malaise has been taken up by contemporary filmmakers. They discuss ways in which newer films attempt to render the current psychological turmoil of living. Then they offer up a handful of examples of their favorite modern cinematic cries of despair