A woman disappears during a boat trip off Sicily. Her companions search for her, but the film gradually turns its attention to the people doing the searching. That shift made Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’avventura one of the most startling films of 1960. It still asks something unusual of us: to sit with uncertainty rather than wait for a solution.
The Story
Anna joins her boyfriend, Sandro, her friend Claudia, and a group of acquaintances on a cruise around the Aeolian Islands. After the boat stops at the rocky island of Lisca Bianca, Anna vanishes. Sandro and Claudia begin looking for her, following possible leads across Sicily.
Spoiler notice: The rest of this section discusses the film’s central turn and ending.
As the search continues, Sandro and Claudia grow close. Their attraction is uneasy: Anna’s absence remains between them, even when their attention drifts elsewhere. Antonioni never gives us a definitive explanation for her disappearance. By the end, the question is less “Where is Anna?” than “What does the search reveal about Sandro and Claudia?”
I find that change of focus both unsettling and moving. Anna cannot simply be set aside, yet the others cannot sustain the urgency they felt when she first disappeared. The film makes their shifting feelings part of the mystery.
Cast and Characters
Monica Vitti plays Claudia, Anna’s friend and the person whose uncertainty becomes the film’s emotional center. Gabriele Ferzetti plays Sandro, Anna’s restless boyfriend. Lea Massari plays Anna, whose disappearance shapes everything that follows.
The supporting cast includes Dominique Blanchar as Giulia, Renzo Ricci as Anna’s father, and Esmeralda Ruspoli as Patrizia. Vitti’s performance was a breakthrough in her collaboration with Antonioni: she gives Claudia’s attraction, guilt, tenderness, and doubt room to coexist.
Awards and Recognition
The film’s 1960 Cannes premiere drew boos and hostile reactions from some viewers. It nevertheless received a Jury Prize, awarded jointly, at the festival. The divided reception has become part of its history: audiences expecting a conventional mystery encountered a film willing to leave its central question unresolved.
Its reputation has endured well beyond that premiere. The British Film Institute’s Sight and Sound has examined L’avventura as a film that changed what a story on screen could do.
How the Film Was Made
Antonioni wrote the screenplay with Elio Bartolini and Tonino Guerra. Aldo Scavarda photographed the film in black and white, while Giovanni Fusco composed its music. The Aeolian island of Lisca Bianca supplied more than a striking location: its exposed rock and surrounding sea make Anna’s disappearance feel at once impossible to explain and impossible to escape.
The production faced serious difficulties. According to the BFI, financial backing collapsed during filming on Lisca Bianca, leaving the crew short of supplies. Antonioni’s archive also records dangerous weather and crew strikes among the problems encountered during the shoot.
Watch how often Antonioni places a character against a building, an empty street, or a wide stretch of landscape. Space tells us something about their isolation without a line of dialogue having to explain it.
Why It Still Matters
Most mysteries teach us to collect clues and expect an answer. L’avventura begins that way, then asks us to notice how quickly desire, distraction, and uncertainty can take over. Anna’s disappearance is never trivial; the absence of a solution is what prevents us from putting her neatly behind us.
The film also gives its silences and landscapes real dramatic weight. If you are new to Antonioni, its pace may take a little adjustment. Stay with Claudia’s reactions and the changing relationship between her and Sandro. The film’s tension lives there as much as it does in the search.
Where to Watch or Buy
Availability is country-specific and changes. Check the linked listing again before subscribing, renting, or ordering, and confirm the language and subtitle options shown for your account.
United States — streaming: The U.S. availability listing showed L’avventura on Criterion Channel and HBO Max when checked for this article on September 29, 2026. Criterion also has a direct page for the film. The availability listing’s last stated service check was September 18.
United States — rental and digital purchase: The same listing showed rental and purchase options through Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, and Fandango at Home. These are separate transactions from subscription streaming.
Italy — streaming and rental: The Italian availability listing showed subscription streaming through Raro Video Amazon Channel and The Film Club Amazon Channel, an ad-supported option through Rakuten TV, and rentals or digital purchases through Amazon Video and Rakuten TV. Its last stated service check was September 26, 2026.
Physical editions: Criterion identifies its U.S. Blu-ray and DVD editions, including the Blu-ray restoration and bonus features. If you prefer Amazon, you can search Amazon.com for the Criterion Blu-ray or search Amazon.it for Italian editions. Those Amazon links lead to search results: I have not verified a particular seller’s copy, stock, region compatibility, or subtitles.
Affiliate disclosure: If you buy through either Amazon link, Italia Mia may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
External Sources
The Criterion Collection: L’avventura
Archivio Antonioni: L’avventura
BFI, “L’avventura: the film that redefined the cinema”
Festival de Cannes: L’avventura
