Italian actress Monica Vitti, notably famous for her multiple collaborations with Michelangelo Antonioni in “L’avventura”, “La Nuit” or “L’Eclipse” with Alain Delon, has died at the age of 90.
After graduating from the Rome Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in 1953, Monica Vitti began her career in theaters and on television. After a few years working in small productions, she landed her first film role in Le Dritte by Mario Amendola in 1959.
The following year, she met Michelangelo Antonioni who would truly launch the actress by having her play in most of his masterpieces. Thus, from 1960, her beauty and talent came to light in films such as L’Avventura, La Nuit in 1961, L’Eclipse with Alain Delon in 1962, and Le Désert rouge in 1964.
In 4 films, the Italian director makes the young actress his muse. This also opens the doors to other studios, directed by filmmakers Pier Paolo Pasolini for Accatone and Ettore Scola for Drame de la jalousie.
In the 1970s, her career peaked, and requests from foreign directors soon arrived: Joseph Losey, Luis Buñuel and André Cayatte courted her. From 1980, when she finished Le Mystere d’Oberwald, her last film with her mentor Michelangelo Antonioni, the actress is more discreet. She will return to the cinema in 1990 but as a director with Scandalo Segreto. Monica Vitti receives in 1995 a Golden Lion in Venice for all of her work.
She died on February 2, 2022, at the age of 90.
The trailer for L’Eclipse, where Monica Vitti shares the poster with Alain Delon :