1961 - LA NOTTE, interesting study in modern alienation.

 Antonioni continued his study in modern alienation with this story of an Italian novelist and his wife who seemed completely cutoff from their society and ultimately each other.

 

As always with an Antonioni film it's all about the images with cinematographer  Gianni Di Venanzo providing some stunning black and white photography and composition.

A dark serious film but very worthwhile.  The performances from  Marcello Mastroianni and Jeannie Moreau are very good. incidentally La Notte translates into English as "The Night."

Michelangelo Antonioni along with Ennio Flaiano and Tonino Guerra wrote the film, it runs 122 minutes.

1970 - ZABRISKIE POINT, flawed but impressive study of American culture circa 1970.

Antonioni's look at America should have been a masterpiece of film making.  However his decision to cast two non actors, Mark Frechette and Daria Halprin created deep flaws in Zabriskie Point which affected the overall film.  Antonioni's gamble that the audience would identify with his two main characters simply did not work.  Professionals like Rod Taylor. G. D. Spradlin and Paul Fix really demonstrate the ineptitude of the performances of "Mark and Daria."

 

Yet, this film has some strong points to make about American consumerism and the culture that created it.  If Antonioni at times stumbles into pretentiousness at least he's trying to say something.  Obviously scenes such as the group orgy at Death Valley's Zabriskie Point and the final scenes of destruction in Arizona are over the top, but they are extremely well done.

At the time this film was released, American critics clobbered it with some of the worst reviews a major director had ever received.  The 70's counterculture audience that MGM hoped would make the film a success failed to show up and the film was a fairly big budget disaster for 1970.  The film's criticism of the American way of life probably hit a little to close to home for the public.

 

A major asset to Zabriskie Point is the cinematography by an Italian photographer Alfio Contini,  
The film is very impressive to look at.  

110 minutes, written by Michelangelo Antonioni, Fred Gardner, Sam Shepard, Tonito Guerra and Clare Peploe.

1966 - BLOW UP, pretensious but a masterpiece

The director Michelangelo Antonioni shoots his second color film in English on London locations.  The film's plot of a photographer attempting to solve a murder through a series of pictures he has taken and blown up has been ripped off by many movies.  However this film still retains it's freshness through Antonioni's impressive technique.

Antonioni was a director who specialized in studies of urban alienation.  He was always a director who could easily slide into overblown pretentious art film stuff and Blow Up certainly has it's moments of that stuff.  Frankly I could have done without the the scenes with the mimes but overall this is a very engrossing film.

A lot of critics spent a lot of time trying to figure out if the murder mystery actually occurred or was a product of the photographer's imagination, but it seems fairly obvious that the murder did happen after all he does find a body.  Certainly the scenes of the photographer putting the pieces together are extremely well done.

An impressive film. Written by Michelangelo Antonioni and Tonino Guerra,  the running time is 119 minutes.

1964 - RED DESERT, Antonioni's film about alienation is alienating naturally

Filmed in some industrial hell hole in Italy.  Red Desert is the story of one woman's personal alienation from her family and ultimately her environment.  OK let me clarify that last sentence, some depressed woman wanders around a polluted Italian landscape for two hours very bummed out and not understanding why she is bummed out but very bummed out none the less.

Antonioni's  girlfriend at the time,  Monica Vitti wanders around and wanders around and wanders around.  The English actor Richard Harris follows her around and follows her around and follows her around.  Vitti twitches and twitches and twitches, she is supposed to be playing a head case I guess. 

A film that screams artistic bullshit all over it.  This just seems like a very pointless film anyway you view it.  Only the most dour and serious film student or buff could get any pleasure out of watching something like this.  Red Desert is the price a serious film lover plays when a filmmaker like Michelangelo Antonioni with strong artistic pretensions is allowed to run amok with a budget.

Tough to watch, Red Desert is one of those classic foreign films that can be used to cure insomnia.  The only interest to be found in the film is the color scheme but man...

A killer 120 minutes.