the same festival, and went on to international box office success and what has been described as "hysteria". Youngblood described the trilogy of which L'Avventura is the first component as a "unified statement about the malady of the emotional life in contemporary times". Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called the film a "weird adventure" and praised its cinematography and performances. Andrew Sarris of The Village Voice called it the movie-going phenomenon of 1961, and praised Antonioni's depiction of characters that cannot communicate with each other. Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic wrote that "Antonioni is trying to exploit the unique powers of the film as distinct from the theater...He attempts to get from film the same utility of the medium itself as a novelist whose point is not story but mood and character and for whom the texture of the prose works as much as what he says in the prose". Martin Scorsese included it on a list of "39 Essential Foreign Films for a Young Filmmaker". Alexander Walker judged it the best film ever made. Awards and nominations 1960 Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize (Michelangelo Antonioni) Won 1960 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Nomination (Michelangelo Antonioni) 1960 British Film Institute Sutherland Trophy (Michelangelo Antonioni) Won 1961 BAFTA Award Nomination for Best Film from any Source (Michelangelo Antonioni) 1961 BAFTA Award Nomination for Best Foreign Actress (Monica Vitti) 1961 Golden Globe Award for Best Breakthrough Actress (Monica Vitti) Won 1961 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon for Best Score (Giovanni Fusco) Won''' 1961 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon Nomination for Best Actress (Monica Vitti) 1961 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon Nomination for Best Cinematography, B/W (Aldo Scavarda) 1961 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon Nomination for Best Director (Michelangelo Antonioni) 1961 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon Nomination for Best Original Story (Michelangelo Antonioni) 1961 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon Nomination for Best Supporting Actress (Lea Massari) LegacyL'Avventura influenced the visual language of cinema, changing how subsequent films looked, and has been named by some critics as one of the best ever made. However, it has been criticized by others for its seemingly uneventful plot and slow pacing, along with the existentialist themes. Youngblood wrote that "very few films in the history of cinema have broken the standard rules of cinematic grammar so