I found this early Antonioni rather difficult. It is very wordy with hardly a care for the visual aspect, except perhaps for the rather ragged and desperate beach scene, oh and the rather splendid final shot of the train leaving the station. Otherwise this is straight soap opera with a bunch of very unlikeable ladies and some barely any better men, going on interminably as to whether they should see someone, leave someone or kill themselves. All this bunch of nothing is vaguely centred around the activities of a rather prestigious fashion house. Unfortunately this is the 50s, so even the fashion scenes are ugly. I'm sure a case can be made for how significant this is at pointing the way ahead for the maestro but I really can't get up the enthusiasm.
Review of The Girlfriends
