Love on the rocks ain’t no big surprise, but Michelangelo Antonioni’s slow-burn study of atrophied feelings mines marital crisis with minute focus. This mid-part of a trilogy (with L’Avventura and L’Eclisse) saw Italy’s arthouse head-boy hone his hold on bourgeois alienation via the 24-hour tale of a blocked writer (Marcello Mastroianni) and his wife (Jeanne Moreau). While she rebuffs suitors, he chases skirt, primarily Monica Vitti. This is no stars’ film, though: Antonioni’s compositions lead, dwarfing character amid modernity’s landscapes.
