Michelangelo Antonioni’s Story of a Love Affair (Cronaca di un amore) is a very important piece of history. The first fictional work of one of the most acclaimed Italian directors has finally been released in America as a two-disc special edition by No Shame films after years of obscurity. On the surface level, Story is a wonderfully told Noir film, but there is much more to it than that. It shows a director just a few years shy of starting a movement.

The story starts out in the same manner as many Noirs do. A rather successful businessman, Enrico Fontana (Ferdinando Sarmi) begins to suspect that his wife, Paola, (Lucia Bosé) may be cheating on him. She isn’t. However, the investigation does bring her back into contact with a lost love, Guido (Massimo Girotti), and with little wasted time an affair re-erupts between them. They are smart enough to not get caught in the act, but she still inspires suspicions of the investigator, who digs up information about their past. Many years earlier Paola’s closest friend (who happened to be Guido’s girlfriend) died in a tragic accident. The guilt was unbearable and it drove the two of them apart. Paola wants out, but not at the risk of sacrificing the lifestyle she is now accustomed to. So, together they concoct an elaborate plan to get Enrico out of the picture – before contemplating if it is truly worth the effort.

A more traditional Noir would make you continuously second guess if Paola is truly the “femme fatale” and if Guido is really just being used by her. They may even put more of a spin into it by linking the investigator to Guido or try to make it into a big set-up. Not this one. Story of a Love Affair is more Casablanca than it is Double Indemnity. It shows all the emotions and disguised motives of the characters on full display to be examined by the audience. Behold Antonioni’s first foray into his obsession with the psychologies of his characters. This is a trait that will get more important in his films to come, but at the loss of a solid narrative structure. The two lead actors share a very convincing chemistry, and Lucia Bosé shines. In her role she is required to express that she is tormented over the inactions of her past and how she may currently be involved in a similar situation. She commands attention by being such a gifted young actress as well as a beyond attractive one.

I should probably mention this – I am not, and have never been, an Antonioni fan. Most fans of Italian cinema will sing his praises over and over again, but it is for the same reasons that they love him that I have never been able to share those feelings. Visually, I can’t complain. Every single image of any of Antonioni’s films is meticulously framed in such a way that they would make beautiful photographs. But his characters are usually flat, often emotionless or have a brooding sense of despair. They seem to float through the film, without direction or hope. Oftentimes they do not work with the narrative, if there even is one. These characters are so non-existent to their surroundings that it is often surreal and, though I am a fan of surrealism, I guess I tend to prefer the more bizarre abstract surrealism of Lynch or Buñuel, or even the fun of Fellini. Story of a Love Affair was Antonioni’s first feature film and it clearly foreshadows his later work. It has some of the undeniable characteristics of the Master that will later show up in future films, such as displaced subjects and an astute attention to detail. At the same time it still has a strong narrative, which is surprisingly verbose. The characters have actual depth, and can be related to on a human level, which I feel is important to a good story. For this same reason, ardent fans of the director might find themselves in a situation where this is more of a curiosity – L’avventura or Blow-Up this isn’t. For those same reasons though, it has become my favorite of all that I have seen.

The presentation is probably the best the film has ever looked. The 1.33:1 Academy OAR image jumps every now and then, but for the most part very little dirt remains. Some of the “Priest hat” ghost imaging remains, and it was obvious through my first viewing. After seeing the restoration feature afterwards I got a better understanding of this effect and why it couldn’t be completely removed. It really is very good though considering how old the film is.  The Mono audio track sounds great though. It is available in both the original Italian and an English dub. The English dub has considerably worse quality, but you probably won’t want to listen to it anyway. As always with foreign films, the native language is the only way to go.

Extras

Disc 1 –
Restoring a Masterpiece (8:28) Cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno walks us through how they were able to create the impressive looking video we have today from a print that was not able to be projected. We also hear from other technicians and what they do. Concise, and informative; it is obvious that a lot of work went into restoring this, and this short featurette should not be missed.

Poster Gallery (0:54) Eleven posters and other press materials used to promote the film, accompanied by the film soundtrack.

Still Gallery (6:54) A nice collection of 83 (!) stills pass by the screen, also accompanied by the soundtrack.

Disc 2 –
Story of a Peculiar Night (29:00) This is a mini-documentary of sorts taking place at a screening of this new restored print in Rome. Lucia Bosé is present and still looks fantastic nearly 55 years later. Giallo director Dario Argento was also there for the screening. Poor Antonioni is wheelchair bound and didn’t contribute, probably because he couldn’t. We do hear from some members of the press. It is about the right running time.

Identification of a Masterpiece (01:52:45) Interviews with assistant director Francesco Maselli, and critics Tullio Kezich and Edoardo Bruno. If you make it through this you can color me impressed. There are lots of redundancies in this nearly two-hour collection of interviews, little happens visually to keep your eyes busy either. You will learn several different things about the production, and how important the film is, but too much is repeated between the segments, and too much is fluff. For the most ardent Antonioni fans only.

Fragments of a Love Affair (5:34) A nice short hosted by Francesco Maselli taking you on a tour of various filming locations.

It should be noted, every feature is Italian with English subtitles. If this sort of thing bothers you, you probably won’t find much value in the special features. There is great material there – it is just scattered, and padded.

Also there is a fantastic booklet with this package containing four articles. First is a biography of Antonioni by Matthew Weisman. Then there are two interviews with Antonioni as well. “The Words of Antonioni” which was an on-set interview and another one from the films initial release. Since the director was not able to supply us with any insight on the DVD, including these reprinted interviews is of much interest for historians and fans alike. Last there is a “Report on the Restoration” by Giuseppe Rotunno which mostly reproduces what is covered in the restoration featurette.

Fin
Overall, this is a very nice package. For a debut film, Antonioni’s is about as good as they come. Apparently even American director Martin Scorsese considers it among his favorites. Personally, I feel that anyone who is at all interested in European cinema or Noir films would be doing themselves a disservice if they didn’t pick this up. I would highly recommended this.