Last night I attended a 7 pm showing of Michelangelo Antonioni‘s L’Avventura at the Film Forum, and once again I had the same reaction that I always have whenever I see a newly restored film there — “This?” It looked fine but it didn’t blow me away, and I know when I see the Bluray version I’ll probably be knocked flat. Honestly? What I saw last night looked no better than the 2001 Criterion DVD version on my 50″ Vizio.

But Greta Gerwig was there, sitting all alone in the 10th or 11th row. We talked a bit after the show. She’s thoroughly spellbound by Monica Vitti‘s performance, she said. Like me, she’s seen L’Avventura six or seven times. This is what women of extraordinary character and cinematic devotion do — they slip into revival screenings of classic films on a Friday night without a boyfriend and certainly without an entourage.