Happy Birthday, Michelangelo Antonioni! Born today in 1912 as Michelangelo Antonioni Cavaliere di Gran Croce, this Italian painter, author, editor, screenwriter, film director is best known for his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents". It is also known as his early "trilogy of decadence".
The films of Antonioni would seem to tick all the boxes when it comes to the clichéd view of so-called art(house) cinema. Slow rhythm, loose narratives, enigmatic characters, inconclusive endings – all of these elements are here.
Antonioni was known for his for his geometric and modernist masterpieces of malaise during the 1960s.
He had created chilly depictions of alienation of which were cornerstones of international filmmaking during that time, inspiring intense measures of admiration, denunciation and confusion.
Throughout his career, Antonioni had "redefined the concept of narrative cinema" and challenged traditional approaches to storytelling, realism, drama, and the world at large.
He had also produced "enigmatic and intricate mood pieces" and rejected action in favor of contemplation, focusing on image and design over character and story. His most notable films had defined a "cinema of possibilities".
Of Antonioni's "trilogy on modernity and its discontents", these include 'L'Avventura ('The Adventure') (1960), 'La Notte' ('The Night') (1961), and 'L'Eclisse' ('The Eclipse')(1962).
The 1960 Italian/French black and white drama/romance film 'L'Avventura' is also the first film of which Antonioni is best known for conceiving, co-writing, and directing.
In his classic of Italian cinema, two lovely young women, Claudia (Monica Vitti) and Anna (Léa Massari), join the latter's lover, Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti), on a boat trip to a remote volcanic island. When Anna goes missing, an extensive search is launched.
In the meantime, Sandro and Claudia become involved in a romance despite Anna's disappearance, though the relationship suffers from the guilt and tension brought about by the looming mystery.
The film is noted for its unusual pacing, which emphasizes visual composition, mood, and character over traditional narrative development.
'L'Avventura' was later nominated for numerous awards and was awarded the Jury Prize at the 13th Cannes Film Festival in May of that same year. The film also made Vitti an international star.
It has appeared on Sight & Sound's list of the critics' top ten greatest films ever made three times in a row: It was also voted second in 1962, fifth in 1972 and seventh in 1982.
According to an Antonioni obituary, 'L'Avventura' "systematically subverted the filmic codes, practices and structures in currency at its time."
Martin Scorsese once said of the film: "L'Avventura" gave me one of the most profound shocks I've ever had at the movies."
The following year, Antonioni co-write and directed the second film of which he is best known. This was the 1961 Italian/French black and white drama film 'La Notte' ('The Night').
In Milan, Lidia (Jeanne Moreau) suddenly storms out of a posh gathering held to honor her husband, Giovanni Pontano (Marcello Mastroianni), who has just written a new novel.
Distressed at the news that her friend Tommaso Garani (Bernhard Wicki) has a terminal illness, Lidia begins roaming the streets of the city, questioning her marriage to Giovanni.
Meanwhile, Giovanni, seemingly oblivious to his crumbling relationship with Lidia, attempts to seduce beautiful ingénue Valentina Gherardini (Monica Vitti).
'La Notte' was one of Stanley Kubrick's ten favorite films. It later received four votes from critics and six votes from directors in the Sight & Sound greatest films poll.
One year later, Antonioni co-wrote and directed the third film of which he is best known. This was the 1962 Italian/English black and white drama/romance film 'L'Eclisse' ('The Eclipse').
The film follows the love life of Vittoria (Monica Vitti), a beautiful literary translator living in Rome.
After splitting from her writer boyfriend, Riccardo (Francisco Rabal), Vittoria meets Piero (Alain Delon), a lively stockbroker, on the hectic floor of the Roman stock exchange.
Though Vittoria and Piero begin a relationship, it is not one without difficulties, and their commitment to one another is tested during an eclipse.
'L'Eclisse' later won the Special Jury Prize at the 15th Cannes Film Festival in May of that same year.It was also nominated for the Palme d'Or.
Described by Martin Scorsese as the boldest film in the trilogy, it is one of Antonioni's more acclaimed works.
Two years later, Antonioni co-wrote and directed the fourth film of which he is best known. This was the 1964 Italian/French Technicolor drama film 'Il deserto rosso' ('Red Desert').
Amid the modern wastelands and toxic factories of Italy, wife and mother Giuliana (Monica Vitti) desperately tries to conceal her tenuous grip on reality from those around her, especially her successful yet neglectful husband, Ugo (Carlo Chionetti).
Ugo's old pal, Corrado Zeller (Richard Harris), later shows up in town on a business trip and is more sensitive to Giuliana's anxieties.
They also begin an affair, but it does little to quell Giuliana's existential fears, and her mental state rapidly deteriorates.
‘Red Desert’ was later awarded the Golden Lion at the 25th Venice Film Festival in 1964. It has since received acclaim from critics.
The film was the last in a series of four films he made with Vitti between 1959 and 1964, preceded by his trilogy.
Two years later, Antonioni conceived, co-wrote, and directed the fifth film of which he is best known. This was the 1966 British/Italian Metrocolor mystery/thriller film 'Blow-Up'.
Set within the mod subculture of 1960s Swinging London, Thomas (David Hemmings) is a London photographer who spends his time photographing fashion models.
One day, he thinks he may have photographed something far more sinister: a murder.
After taking pictures in the park, Thomas is horrified to find an ambiguous image lurking on the edge of the frame, which could be a shadow, but looks like a gun.
However, the only thing clear is that Jane (Vanessa Redgrave), the woman in the photo, has appeared at his studio -- and wants the pictures he took.
The film was based on Argentine novelist, short story writer, and essayist Julio Cortázar's 1958 short story Las babas del diablo (The Devil’s Drivel). It is one of five stories or novellas contained in his book Las armas secretas (The Secret Weapons).
On a budget of $1.8 million, 'Blow-Up' grossed $20 million at the box office.
In the main competition section of the 19th Cannes Film Festival, ‘Blowup’ won the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film, the festival's highest honor. This occurred in May of that same year.
The American release of the counterculture-era film with its explicit sexual content was in direct defiance of Hollywood's Production Code.
Despite this, its subsequent critical and box-office success influenced the abandonment of the code in 1968 in favor of the MPAA film rating system.
'Blow-Up' would inspire subsequent films, including Dario Argento's 'The Bird with the Crystal Plumage' (1970), Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Conversation' (1974), and Brian De Palma's 'Blow Out' (1981).
Four years after 'Blow-Up', Antonioni conceived, co-wrote, and directed the sixth and final film of which he is best known. This was the 1970 American drama film 'Zabriskie Point'.
The film follows a fugitive campus radical named Mark (Mark Frechette). He later steals a plane and meets a secretary named Daria (Daria Halprin) in Death Valley. The film also featured Rod Taylor.
'Zabriskie Point’ was widely noted at the time for its setting in the counterculture of the United States. Some of the film's scenes were shot on location at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley.
Upon release, the film was an overwhelming commercial failure, and was panned by most critics. On a budget of $7 million, ‘Zabriskie Point’ grossed $1 million at the box office.
Its critical standing has increased, however, since its release. It has to some extent achieved cult status and is noted for its cinematography, use of music (notably by Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones), and direction.
In real life, Frechette led a counterculture life much like his character’s did in the film.
Three years after the release of 'Zabriskie Point’, he was imprisoned for his part in a bank hold-up in Boston, Massachusetts.
Frechette later died in prison on September 27, 1975. This was during a weightlifting exercise when a barbell fell on his neck. He was 27.
Harrison Ford fans know that his scenes were cut from this film. However, in the jail scene, if you look closely, you can see him standing against the back wall near the door as an arrested student. Ford went uncredited.
Antonioni's films also frequently starred Italian actress Monica Vitti (his muse) as well as other statuesque actresses.
Antonioni passed on July 30, 2007. He was 94. This was the same day that another renowned film director, Ingmar Bergman, also passed.
Antonioni lay in state at City Hall in Rome where a large screen showed black-and-white footage of him among his film sets and behind-the-scenes.
In 2010, 'L'Avventura' was ranked in at #40 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema.".
The film would later go on to influence many different arthouse filmmakers, most notably Jia Zhangke ('A Touch of Sin').
In 2012, 'Blow-Up' was ranked in at #144 in the Sight & Sound critics' poll of the world's greatest films.
Among his credits, Antonioni is also known for directing 'Story of a Love Affair' (1950), 'The Lady Without Camellas' (1953), 'I Vinti' ('The Vanquished') (1953), 'L'Amore in Città' ('Love in the City') (1953),'Le Amiche' ('The Girlfriends') (1955), ('Il Grido' ('The Cry') (1957), and 'The Passenger' (1975) .
Today, Antonioni's works are landmarks in modern cinema. Through his features, he is noted for his avoidance of "realistic" narrative in favor of character study and a vaguely metaphorical series of incidents.
With his stunning visual styles, ambiguous narratives, and still relevant focus on modern alienation, this Italian master ushered in a new European art cinema permeated by a distinctly contemporary ennui.
Antonioni was known for being the great chronicler of (bourgeois) ennui and while he has a strong interest in character psychology, it’s not the clearly delineated psychology familiar from Hollywood cinema.
Of all the Italian filmmakers of the post-neorealist era, Antonioni is the most influential. His shadow – whether in terms of subject matter or style – looms large over the work of filmmakers.
These, (diversely and most notably), include Wim Wenders, Dario Argento, Michael Haneke, Sofia Coppola and Paolo Sorrentino.
The trademarks in Antonioni's films include frequently centering around an attractive, damaged (and often adulterous) man and woman who go on a talky journey together which ends ambiguously yet grimly.
His other trademarks include moving figurative compositions, meditation on the spiritual cost of modernity, frequently dealing with incommunicability, characters who suffer from ennui and expressing alienation visually.
The films of Antonioni have been described as "enigmatic and intricate mood pieces" that feature elusive plots, striking visuals, and a preoccupation with modern landscapes, substantially influencing subsequent art cinema.
Antonioni had been active from 1942–2004.
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