Director: Michelangelo Antonioni, France/ Italy 1962, 126 minutes, 35mm, original Italian version with English subtitles, print courtesy of Cinecittà Luce

Monday, July 7, 2025, 7 pm

Blue Salon, Room 012, HfG Karlsruhe

Free admission, donation requested

Its plaintive, oppressive finale - a symphony of silently listening objects on a nondescript street corner in Rome, destined for a rendezvous to which none of the lovers show up - is one of the most revolutionary and rightly celebrated moments of mid-century European cinema. But L'eclisse is characterized by the same cinematic brilliance throughout: Antonioni's depiction of urban alienation inscribes itself Antonioni's depiction of urban alienation insinuates itself insidiously into the doomed affair between a translator (Monica Vitti) and a stockbroker (Alain Delon).

In masterfully composed tableaux, Antonioni exposes the inner emptiness of Rome's nouveau riche society and hints that a deeper restlessness lies behind the modern blasé attitude. Vittoria seems tired of love, her relationship with Piero remains superficial, more a game than a feeling. The last seven minutes bring this aesthetic of disappearance to perfection. A work of constantly growing unease, whose seismic shock Martin Scorsese described as “progress in storytelling”.

In the supporting program: Gente del po
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni, Italy 1947, 11 minutes, DCP, original version with English subtitles

The Kino im Blauen Salon, the student cinema of the Hochschule für Gestaltung, has been run by students since 2017 and has been a registered association since the beginning of 2024: https://kinoimblauensalon.de/de/news.

More about the film series in summer semester 2025:

Kino im Blauen Salon, the student cinema of the Hochschule für Gestaltung, invites you to the new program for the summer semester! Our film program, which was awarded 1st prize by the Deutsche Kinemathek, is now in its 18th semester! Time to take a brief look back... In our early days, cineastes were few and far between in the Blauer Salon, whereas today the room seems almost too small. But we have always remained true to our ideals: Analog film screenings in 35mm & 16mm, joint voluntary work with free admission and a relaxed HfG atmosphere. And the summer open-air cinema on the lawn in front of the HfG is already in its 6th round, this time at the end of May! So it's time not to look back, but to look forward: To another summer semester full of cinematic-poetic cinema highlights:
Our main interest this summer is poetry, because the nights are getting longer, the horizon endless and there's something in the air. But what does cinema have to do with poetry? Find out in our “Cinema Poetico” series, in which we set off on multiple narrative strands, meandering perspectives, visual detours and everything that lies between the lines. The series presents a hand-picked selection of classics and hidden gems that form the silent branches of cinema.
There are also nightly excursions with our “Midnight Movies”, the legendary Kult Sneak, experimental short film programs, workshops, specials, guests and, of course, the highlight of the cinema year, the open-air cinema in front of the HfG, under the motto “Freedom in Change”. See you soon at the movies!