Why'd she run?
Maybe I missed something. Does anyone know why Mavi chose to disappear?
shareI usually don't take things too literal in Antonioni movies.
Since the movie is about Niccolo and his point of view on his relationships, I saw her disappearance from Niccolo's life as representing the girl who leaves you, but you never know why she did. Its done to create that feeling in the audience too. And not knowing why she left haunts him, so even in the relationships that follow he still thinks about her because her motivation for leaving was not understood.
I also think the stranger who shows up and threatens him at the beginning (before we ever meet the girl) is used to personify the jealously and paranoia his character feels in their relationship. This is why the stalker still stalks him after she is gone. And why Mavi never knows who the stalker is when he questions her about him. Antonioni is personifying a feeling lots people have in relationships. Usually that's why his movies don't give answers- they're more about creating a feeling and making you think, rather telling a coherent story.
At least that's my interpretation. I could be 100% wrong with all of this.
I agree that it's better not to take things too literally with a film like this. But in this case there does seem to be a pretty convincing reason right on the surface. During the drive in the fog, she's having a massive panic attack and he treats her coldly, maybe even cruelly (by ignoring her pleas to stop the car) making it even worse. The dialogue that follows in the country house is all about how he doesn't love her--which he pretty much admits. After that, she drops him.
So maybe the question should be reframed: instead of asking why she leaves him, maybe we should be asking why he drives women away? We hear that his wife leaving him was his fault; he mistreats Mavi; and he turns his back on the actress who loves him. What motivates him in all this is just as murky as what motivated her--and maybe that's Antonioni's point about human psychology and relationships.
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