The director who used silence as a dominant element in his films identifies The Eclipse as his favourite piece of work. “Of all the films I have made, I like The Eclipse the most. It is a film with a very meticulous style, which is what makes it successful. It is also my most modern film.” Two of Antonioni’s films stand out in particular for their use of silence: The Eclipse and The Passenger. Both films end with a single seven-minute take devoid of dialogue. Natural sounds from outside accompany the visual language in these takes. Young Vittoria, the central character of The Eclipse, has a job as a translator. At the beginning of the film, we watch her decide to end her relationship with Ricardo. If Ricardo tries to put up a fight, it is to no avail, for Vittoria has made up her mind. She walks out of the house, Ricardo takes chase and eventually they arrive at some building. Crowds, the stock market and city buildings are presented as a fact of modern life in the film. Vittoria has a problem adapting to the screech of horns and pace of the city. Silence can prevail momentarily with the news of death but the background hum is inescapable. This background hum also makes it hard to reach her mother. Vittoria flies to Verona with her neighbour Anita. But in reality, it might be more accurate to describe the journey as an inner journey. Can Piero, the stockbroker she has met, solve the problem of her loneliness? Or is loneliness the path chosen by heroines? Are the vast empty spaces in The Eclipse a sign of the well-being that comes with accepting loneliness? But the unfinished buildings of the film or those under construction come across as an architectural motif, as the antithesis of the empty spaces. The unfinished building used by the couple early on in the film as a meeting place should be interpreted by the audience in the context of the film, perhaps in relation to the empty spaces.
