Today kicks off the first complete retrospective in New York in more than a decade dedicated to the work of filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni. Presented with Luce Cinecittà, Rome, and featuring nearly 40 35mm prints and digital preservations, the lineup includes the renowned trilogy of “L’Avventura,” “L’Eclisse,” and “La Notte,” starring Monica Vitti as well as a diverse collection of films spanning his varied four-decade career.

Antonioni made a career out of mesmerizing audiences with his films of complicated relationships that raise questions but leave many of the answers to the viewer. In a 1969 interview with American film critic Roger Ebert, Antonioni described his shooting as a constant departure from the script. “I may film scenes I had no intention of filming; things suggest themselves on location, and we improvise. I try not to think about it too much. Then, in the cutting room, I take the film and start to put it together, and only then do I begin to get an idea of what it is about.”