MovieChat Forums > L'avventura (1961) Discussion > Why did Sandro spill the ink on the arch...

Why did Sandro spill the ink on the architect's copy?


Why would he do such a thing?

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I hate to give a defined "reason" for why he did it (films of this calibur allow the viewer room to think), but to me it was out of jealousy. This young man and his work represent to Sandro everything he wants to be but isn't. So, being a complete jerk, he reacts with hostility to the young man's talents. It's the current generation's paranoia of the talents of the younger, rising generation that will eventually replace it.
To me, it's the best scene in this film of such terrible, exquisite desolation. One of my all time faves...

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Yeah, I gathered from that scene that Sandro was angry that his life hadn't turned out the way he had wanted it to (he mentions this a couple times during the film) and when he sees this young arcitect doing the work he used to live for he became jealous and wanted to knock the young man down a peg. When the young arcitect confronts him Sandro asks him his age and says something along the lines of "I used to be 23. Do you have any idea how many fights I got in when I was 23?" In other words Sandro is saying "I used to be just like you so don't mess with me." He then goes straight back to the hotel room and forcibly tries to have sex with Claudia, but she refuses because she "doesn't know who he is right now." Sandro is filled with anger and anxiety and tries to release these feelings on Claudia through sex, but she notices something is wrong and stops him. Also, just before he tries to take Claudia he looks out the window at a piece of Italian architecture for a moment and then closes the window, realizing that part of his life which he used to love so much is gone now.

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Beautifully put, you two.

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wonderfully put

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I thought it was the director/sandro's statement about the futility of art/architecture. It also brought to mind Pollock.

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The first two comments were brilliant. Thank you.

M.Q

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Interesting--I just watched the film. I saw that act as such a window into his character. I had this film on my dvr for ages and knew that I would have to be in the right frame of mind to watch it with absolutely no distractions.

Thanks for all the comments.

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I'd like to think that the other posters commented very well to the characters literal motives. Metaphorically though, I think the entire movie comes back to what Sandro said while he was taking a shower; that he and the others have just been trying to fight off the mundane hours of the rest of their lives.

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Sandro has sold out by doing estimates on new, presumably mediocre, buildings instead of trying to make his own way as an architect, (not an easy profession to make an entry into unless you are doing what everyone else is doing at the moment and as cheaply as possible--e.g. strip malls). The young architect is much like Sandro was, and, moreover, a rather talented artist, as is clear from his sketch. Sandro feels that the picture is something of an indictment: he has chosen the easy route and turned his back on a career as an artist.

This comment is to add to what has been said already, and not to contradict the others as I basically agree with them.

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Haha, all I knew at the time was that it was definitely very important and symbolic, I just couldn't work out how.

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these comments have been helpful

yeah i think you all are absolutely right: sandro is a frustrated artist acting out in a form of self-disgust by spoiling this young artist's dreams

(with the context/backdrop of his instant betrayal of anna as another possible guilt driver)

in other words: if i cant be happy as an artist, and i have to make my big money as a sold-out cost estimator, then you cant be a happy artist either

i abandoned my dreams, so now no one is allowed to dream


thanks for the assist on this!!

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He's like a teenager acting out. He's jealous of this young man who appears to be living the artistic life he once dreamed for himself. He talked about changing his career, and Claudia encouraged him, but he ultimately rejects the idea. His cheating on her may be another aspect of this acting out.

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All the posters make a good point about Sandro's failure, jealousy, etc., but doesn't this willful cruelty also suggest the killer in him? He didn't do away with Anna, but he could have.

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This post has been deleted by a postrator

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Yes, all of the above, and also because Sandro is a dick.

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