MovieChat Forums > L'avventura (1961) Discussion > Editing Mistake At Crucial Scene?

Editing Mistake At Crucial Scene?

posted 19 years ago by deadeyes_
18 replies | jump to latest

I'm looking for more opinions to help me out on this one.... it takes place during one of the most important parts of the movie, when Sandro is found in the morning making out with the prostitute on the sofa.

At first, the camera shows him pulling away from the woman and looking up, realizing that he's been caught by Claudia. In the next shot, from Cluadia's POV, it shows his Sandro's head suddenly down, out of sight. He then raises his head above the sofa in the same way as in the earlier shot.

Is this a discontinuity error?

Or did Sandro merely duck down after seeing her? Perhaps this is done for some other reason and out of my limited knowledge I've been mistakenly contributing it to editing error?

[–] irenegugg15 19 years ago

That was one scene that really disturbed me in the movie. At first sight it seemed as if Sandro was trying to hide from Claudia, much like a child would think that covering your face could somehow make you invisible. It disturbed me that a grown man would act in such a way. The commentary on the DVD that I saw confirmed this, that Sandro was indeed a coward and he looks back at Claudia retreating, realizing his mistake.

[–] rock_bustin 19 years ago

Hey,

It may seem disturbing but it is certainly not out of character for
Sandro. Similar behavior is seen when he petulantly spills the ink well
in what can only be petty jealousy as well as in the scene where he acts
bored and distracted with Claudia's "lover's joy" thier first morning
after together. (When she sings).

[–] deadeyes_ 19 years ago

Thank you for replying, but I think both of you are missing the point of my post. This is not a discussion of character or story. I'm asking about a possible technical error... an editing mistake. Did you not notice the discontinuity of the two shots put together?

I value plot and content discussions.... but here I'm looking for opinions on what I think might be an actual mistake. I hope I am wrong.

[–] irenegugg15 19 years ago

Thanks rock_bustin. That definately makes sense.

[–] deadeyes_ 19 years ago

PLease, IMDB faithful, I'm still without an answer. Can any Lavventura experts help me out with my question?

[–] jtate1960 19 years ago

Hey deadeyes. I just watched this film last night. (For the first time, I might add.) There is no continuity error. At least not on the Criterion DVD I saw.

Claudia walks in and sees Sandro and the girl on the sofa. He looks up and sees Claudia. He then tucks his head down as if ashamed. We then see Claudia turn and run out. It then cuts back to Sandro and the girl. He slowly pulls his head up to see that Claudia has fled the room. The scene flows smoothly with no appearance of bad editing.

Hope that helps.

This is fictional life
Based on factual death

[–] luis21207 19 years ago

I watched the scene three times, and my opinion too is that there really is an edition mistake. It's impossible for Sandro not to see Claudia the first time he raises his head. If it wasn't a mistake, then he thought there was a last moment chance for him not to be seen by Claudia, which is absurd. But be aware, I'm not an expert...

[–] jasonbourneagain 15 years ago

I just watched it for the first time and thought it was strange that Sandro ducked down and closed his eyes like a kid in order to become invisible. But I was pretty bored by this time so did not think it was an error.

However, after watching the scene again after reading your post, I saw that it was a reverse angle shot and that he got up from the opposite side that he ducked down on. So yeah, it was a continuity error, but it probably was done on purpose in order to make for a better reverse angle shot.

EDIT: I'm watching this movie a second time. obieflex's screen captures show that it was an error. I was looking at the same scene but later frames. Good catch.

[–] beukocik 19 years ago

Just watched this scene for a few times (never thought of it this way before)

And it simply can't be that Sandro is ducking down (ashamed or whatever). We can see his head clearly up, noticing Claudia's presence. Then with the change of camera's view he raises his head again. And it's obvious to me that he's surprised to see Claudia. So it's the repetition of the gesture already presented in previous shot.

And it's hard to tell whether it's done on purpose or by mistake. Both versions are possible. I'd say for the latter. Repetition of the same action in two different shots is a great formal trick, but not in Antonioni's style (he did it in Zabriskie Point though). And it doesn't at all fit in L'avventura's narrative structure which is more into real time experience, then tricks like this. Also, in the first general shot of that interior, Sandro's head is hardly to be seen from over the sofa and it shows up only for a second. So it could be that the editor didn't notice it while cutting the footage. I would't call it discontinuity.

I may be wrong but even if I'm not, it doesn't seem like much of a flaw on this perfect movie. Anyway, point for You, deadeyes. And BTW, it wasn't just a prostitute. It was Gloria Perkins ;)

[–] Filaz 19 years ago

I watched the Criterion DVD and all i can say is a repeat of jtatel's post.

Claudia walks in and sees Sandro and the girl on the sofa. He looks up and sees Claudia. He then tucks his head down as if ashamed. We then see Claudia turn and run out. It then cuts back to Sandro and the girl. He slowly pulls his head up to see that Claudia has fled the room. The scene flows smoothly with no appearance of bad editing.

In my "version" there is no editing error. He looks up, sees Claudia and then in the same shot (without any cuts) he tucks his head.

[–] Chrislowski 18 years ago

I just checked and I can see the error, although I completely missed it before I read this thread. I have the Criterion DVD as well.

The error happens when Claudia walks in to the room that Sandro and Gloria are on the couch in. There is a long shot with the camera at one of the table, and Claudia at the far end with her back to us. The sofa is just on the right. She turns back facing us and is about to walk out of the room when she hears something coming from the sofa, so she turns back around and looks at it. Now because it's a long shot and the sofa is so far away, it's hard to see, but if you watch carefully just before the shot cuts to the next (at 2:17:38 to be exact!) you see Sandros' head pop up for a split second. Then the camera cuts to the shot from behind Claudia's shoulder, looking at the sofa, and Sandro and Gloria are kissing, having not even noticed Claudia watching them. That's when Sandro looks up and see's her (for the second time...) with a surprised look on his face. THEN... he hides his face.

EVIDENCE!

Here - http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=shot1wm2.jpg
and Here - http://img524.imageshack.us/my.php?image=shot2de0.jpg

This is definitely an error, although it is exremely hard to see at first, but look again at what I just explained. I'm surprised you noticed it at all deadeyes!

Diane, never drink coffee that has been anywhere near a fish.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] ciphoid_9 18 years ago

You're right. He looks up in the long shot, then looks up again in the close shot. This is almost certainly an editing mistake, and a rather obvious one at that.

[–] Steve-on-LI 17 years ago

well i have read the posts here, but sorry folks, it is just beyond belief that there would be an 'editing mistake' during a 'crucial scene,' period

i guess there is a 2% chance that yeah it was a 'mistake,' but how could a director (and his full team) allow such a weird flaw to persist in final form

a quirky bobbleheaded moment, or maybe an odd, intended double-shot 'me again' moment, or a conscious half-trick...but i just cant accept that this double pop-up Sandro is 'an editing mistake'

what do you think?? am i showing too much faith here??

[–] deadeyes_ 16 years ago

yes

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Jes' Sayin' (6424) 2 years ago

Remember that in 1961 there was no video rental or DVD and no freeze framing to study a shot. Since this is a blink and you miss it sort of thing, probably they thought most people would never notice.