L’ Avventura

Recently I rewatched this existential classic by Michelangelo Antonioni. If you’ve never, it might be worth a look just for the styles portrayed in it. High 60s Italian fashion, a veneer overlaid on centuries-old architecture. And Monica Vitti.

Above the TV sits my art nouveau mantle clock. English casework, French clockwork, circa late 1890s. As I watched the movie, I realized that the movie was made almost exactly between the time the clock was made and the present. There is a chance that the clock-maker was still alive when I was born, and the actors in the film certainly were. Now, I remain—my existence is enriched by the efforts of these departed artisans and artists, although Monica lived until 2022.