Antonioni, Michelangelo

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| yearsactive = 1942–2004
 
| yearsactive = 1942–2004
 
| spouse = Letizia Balboni (1942–1954)<br />Enrica Antonioni (1986–2007)
 
| spouse = Letizia Balboni (1942–1954)<br />Enrica Antonioni (1986–2007)
| academyawards = '''[[Academy Honorary Award]]'''<br>1995 Lifetime Achievement
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| academyawards = '''[[Academy Honorary Award]]'''<br/>1995 Lifetime Achievement
| awards                  = '''[[FIPRESCI]] Prize from [[Berlin International Film Festival]]'''<br>1961 Body of the work<br>'''[[Golden Bear]]'''<br>1961 ''[[La notte]]''<br>'''Bodil Award for Best European Film'''<br>1976 ''[[Professione: reporter]]''<br>'''35th Anniversary Prize from [[Cannes Film Festival]]'''<br>1982 ''[[Identificazione di una donna]]''<br>'''[[Palme d'Or]]'''<br>1967 ''[[Blowup]]''<br>'''Jury Special Prize from [[Cannes Film Festival]]'''<br>1962 ''[[L'eclisse]]''<br>'''Jury Prize from [[Cannes Film Festival]]'''<br>1960 ''[[L'avventura]]''<br>'''Luchino Visconti Award'''<br>1976<br>'''European Film Award'''<br>1993 Lifetime Achievement<br>'''Flaiano International Prize'''<br>2000 Career Award<br>'''Best Foreign Film Award from French Syndicate of Cinema Critics'''<br>1968 ''[[Blowup]]''<br>'''Golden Career Gryphon'''<br>1996<br>'''François Truffaut Award'''<br>1991<br>'''[[Istanbul Film Festival]]'''<br>1996 Lifetime Achievement<br>'''[[Silver Ribbon for Best Director]]'''<br>1976 ''[[Professione: reporter]]''<br>1962 ''[[La notte]]''<br>1956 ''[[Le amiche]]''<br>'''[[Silver Ribbon]] for Best Director of Foreign Film'''<br>1968 ''[[Blowup]]''<br>'''Special [[Silver Ribbon]] for the human and stylistic values'''<br>1951 ''[[Cronaca di un amore]]''<br>''' [[Silver Ribbon]] for Best Documentary'''<br>1950 ''L'amorosa menzogna''<br>1948 ''Nettezza urbana''<br>'''[[Kansas City Film Critics Circle|KCFCC]] Award for Best Director'''<br>1968 ''[[Blowup]]''<br>'''Golden Leopard from [[Locarno Film Festival]]'''<br>1957 ''[[Il grido]]''<br>'''Sutherland Trophy'''<br>1960 ''[[L'avventura]]''<br>'''Grand Prix Special des Amériques from [[Montréal Film Festival]]'''<br>1995 Exceptional contribution to the art<br>'''Special Citation from [[National Society of Film Critics|NSFC]]'''<br>2001 Career<br>'''[[National Society of Film Critics|NSFC]] Award for Best Director'''<br>1967 ''[[Blowup]]''<br>'''[[FIPRESCI]] Prize from Valladolid Film Festival'''<br>2004 ''Lo sguardo di Michelangelo''<br>'''Pietro Bianchi Award'''<br>1998<br>'''[[Golden Lion]]'''<br>1983 Career<br>1964 ''[[Il deserto rosso]]''<br>'''[[FIPRESCI]] Prize from [[Venice Film Festival]]'''<br>1995 ''[[Beyond the Clouds]]''<br>1964 ''[[Il deserto rosso]]''<br>'''Silver Lion'''<br>1955 ''[[Le amiche]]''
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| awards                  = '''[[FIPRESCI]] Prize from [[Berlin International Film Festival]]'''<br/>1961 Body of the work<br/>'''[[Golden Bear]]'''<br/>1961 ''[[La notte]]''<br/>'''Bodil Award for Best European Film'''<br/>1976 ''[[Professione: reporter]]''<br/>'''35th Anniversary Prize from [[Cannes Film Festival]]'''<br/>1982 ''[[Identificazione di una donna]]''<br/>'''[[Palme d'Or]]'''<br/>1967 ''[[Blowup]]''<br/>'''Jury Special Prize from Cannes Film Festival'''<br/>1962 ''[[L'eclisse]]''<br/>'''Jury Prize from Cannes Film Festival'''<br/>1960 ''[[L'avventura]]''<br/>'''Luchino Visconti Award'''<br/>1976<br/>'''European Film Award'''<br/>1993 Lifetime Achievement<br/>'''Flaiano International Prize'''<br/>2000 Career Award<br/>'''Best Foreign Film Award from French Syndicate of Cinema Critics'''<br/>1968 ''Blowup''<br/>'''Golden Career Gryphon'''<br/>1996<br/>'''François Truffaut Award'''<br/>1991<br/>'''[[Istanbul Film Festival]]'''<br/>1996 Lifetime Achievement<br/>'''[[Silver Ribbon for Best Director]]'''<br/>1976 ''Professione: reporter''<br/>1962 ''La notte''<br/>1956 ''[[Le amiche]]''<br/>'''[[Silver Ribbon]] for Best Director of Foreign Film'''<br/>1968 ''Blowup''<br/>'''Special Silver Ribbon for the human and stylistic values'''<br/>1951 ''[[Cronaca di un amore]]''<br/>''' Silver Ribbon for Best Documentary'''<br/>1950 ''L'amorosa menzogna''<br/>1948 ''Nettezza urbana''<br/>'''[[Kansas City Film Critics Circle|KCFCC]] Award for Best Director'''<br/>1968 ''Blowup''<br/>'''Golden Leopard from [[Locarno Film Festival]]'''<br/>1957 ''[[Il grido]]''<br/>'''Sutherland Trophy'''<br/>1960 ''L'avventura''<br/>'''Grand Prix Special des Amériques from [[Montréal Film Festival]]'''<br/>1995 Exceptional contribution to the art<br/>'''Special Citation from [[National Society of Film Critics|NSFC]]'''<br/>2001 Career<br/>'''NSFC Award for Best Director'''<br/>1967 ''Blowup''<br/>'''FIPRESCI Prize from Valladolid Film Festival'''<br/>2004 ''Lo sguardo di Michelangelo''<br/>'''Pietro Bianchi Award'''<br/>1998<br/>'''[[Golden Lion]]'''<br/>1983 Career<br/>1964 ''[[Il deserto rosso]]''<br/>'''FIPRESCI Prize from [[Venice Film Festival]]'''<br/>1995 ''[[Beyond the Clouds]]''<br/>1964 ''Il deserto rosso''<br/>'''Silver Lion'''<br/>1955 ''Le amiche''
 
}}
 
}}
  
'''Michelangelo Antonioni''', [[Italian orders of merit|Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI]]<ref>[http://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/DettaglioDecorato.asp?idprogressivo=11522&iddecorato=114 quirinale.it]</ref> ([[September 29]] [[1912]] &ndash;  [[July 30]] [[2007]]) was an [[Italian people|Italian]] [[modernist]] [[film director]] whose films are widely considered as some of the most influential in film aesthetics.
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'''Michelangelo Antonioni,''' [[Italian orders of merit|Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI]] (September 29, 1912 July 30, 2007) was an [[Italian people|Italian]] [[Modernism|modernist]] [[film director]] whose films are widely considered as some of the most influential in film aesthetics. His non-linear plot and open-ended style became one of the hallmarks of the European art film.
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Antonioni's films reflected the intellectual milieu of his day, especially [[Marxism]] and [[existentialism]]. A critic of traditional morality, his films displayed the modern paradox that [[humanism|humanist]] values often lead to both hedonism and boredom.
  
 
==Biography==
 
==Biography==
 
===Early life===
 
===Early life===
Michelangelo Antonioni was born in [[Ferrara]], [[Emilia Romagna]]. Upon graduation from the [[University of Bologna]] with a degree in [[economics]], he started writing for the local Ferrara newspaper ''Il Corriere Padano'' in [[1935]] as a film journalist.  
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Michelangelo Antonioni was born in [[Ferrara]], [[Emilia Romagna]]. Upon graduation from the [[University of Bologna]] with a degree in [[economics]], he started writing for the local Ferrara newspaper, ''Il Corriere Padano,'' in 1935, as a film journalist.  
  
In [[1940]], Antonioni moved to [[Rome]], where he worked for ''Cinema'', the official [[Italian Fascism|Fascist]] film magazine edited by [[Vittorio Mussolini]]. However, Antonioni was fired a few months afterward. Later that year he enrolled at the ''Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia'' to study film technique.
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In 1940, Antonioni moved to [[Rome]], where he worked for ''Cinema,'' the official [[Italian Fascism|Fascist]] film magazine edited by [[Vittorio Mussolini]]. However, Antonioni was fired a few months afterward. Later that year, he enrolled at the ''Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia'' to study film technique.
  
 
===First films===
 
===First films===
In 1942, he co-wrote ''[[Un pilota ritorna]]'', together with [[Roberto Rossellini]] and worked as assistant director on [[Enrico Fulchignoni]]'s ''I due Foscari''. In 1943, Antonioni travelled to [[France]] to assist [[Marcel Carné]] on ''[[Les visiteurs du soir]]''. Antonioni started shooting [[short film]]s in the 1940s with ''Gente del Po'', a story of poor fishermen of the [[Po valley]] on which he worked from [[1943]] until [[1947]]. These films were [[Italian neorealism|neorealist]] in style; semi-[[Documentary film|documentary]] studies of the lives of ordinary people.<ref name="cook">David A. Cook, ''A History of Narrative Film'', 4e (New York: Norton, 2001), 535.</ref>
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In 1942, Antonioni co-wrote ''[[Un pilota ritorna]],'' together with [[Roberto Rossellini]] and worked as assistant director on [[Enrico Fulchignoni]]'s ''I due Foscari''. In 1943, Antonioni traveled to [[France]] to assist [[Marcel Carné]] on ''[[Les visiteurs du soir]]''. Antonioni started shooting [[short film]]s in the 1940s, with ''Gente del Po,'' a story of poor fishermen of the [[Po valley]], on which he worked from 1943 until 1947. These films were [[Italian neorealism|neo-realist]] in style; semi-[[Documentary film|documentary]] studies of the lives of ordinary people.<ref>David A. Cook, ''A History of Narrative Film'' (New York: Norton, 2004). ISBN 0393978680</ref>
  
However, Antonioni's first full-length feature film ''[[Cronaca di un amore]]'' (1950) broke away from neorealism by depicting the middle classes. He continued to do so in a series of other films : ''[[I vinti]]'' ("The Vanquished", 1952), a trio of stories, each set in a different country (France, Italy and England), about juvenile delinquency; ''[[La signora senza camelie]]'' ("The Lady Without Camellias", 1953) about a young film star and her fall from grace; and ''[[Le amiche]]'' ("The Girlfriends", 1955) about middle class women in Turin. ''[[Il grido]]'' (''The Outcry'', 1957) was a return to working class stories, depicting a factory worker and his daughter. Each of these stories is about [[social alienation]].<ref name="cook"/>
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However, Antonioni's first full-length feature film, ''[[Cronaca di un amore]]'' (1950), broke away from neorealism by depicting the middle classes. He continued to do so in a series of other films: ''[[I vinti]]'' (''The Vanquished,'' 1952), a trio of stories, each set in a different country (France, Italy and England), about juvenile delinquency; ''[[La signora senza camelie]]'' (''The Lady Without Camellias,'' 1953) about a young film star and her fall from grace; and ''[[Le amiche]]'' (''The Girlfriends,'' 1955) about middle class women in Turin. ''[[Il grido]]'' (''The Outcry,'' 1957) was a return to working class stories, depicting a factory worker and his daughter. Each of these stories is about [[social alienation]].
  
 
===International success===
 
===International success===
In ''Le Amiche'', Antonioni had experimented with a radical new style. Instead of a conventional narrative, he presented a series of apparently disconnected events, and he utilized the [[long take]] frequently.<ref name="cook"/> This style is potentially frustrating due to its slow pacing and lack of forward momentum. However, Antonioni returned to the style in ''[[L'avventura]]'' (1960), which was his first international success. The response at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] was a mixture of cheers and boos,<ref>[[The Guardian]]: ''[http://film.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/0,,2138557,00.html Obituary: Michelangelo Antonioni]'' by Penelope Houston, 31 July 2007]</ref> but the film was popular in art house cinemas across the world. Antonioni followed it with ''[[La notte]]'' (1961) and ''[[L'eclisse]]'' (1962). These three films are commonly referred to as a trilogy because they are stylistically similar and all concerned with the alienation of man within the modern world. His first color film, ''[[Il deserto rosso]]'' (''Red Desert'', 1964), deals with similar themes, and is sometimes considered the fourth film of the "trilogy."
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In ''Le Amiche,'' Antonioni had experimented with a radical new style. Instead of a conventional narrative, he presented a series of apparently disconnected events, and he utilized the [[long take]] frequently. This style is potentially frustrating due to its slow pacing and lack of forward momentum. However, Antonioni returned to the style in ''[[L'avventura]]'' (1960), which was his first international success. The response at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] was a mixture of cheers and boos,<ref>Penelope Houston, [http://film.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/0,,2138557,00.html Obituary: Michelangelo Antonioni,] ''[[The Guardian]].'' Retrieved November 26, 2007.</ref> but the film was popular in art house cinemas across the world. Antonioni followed it with ''[[La notte]]'' (1961) and ''[[L'eclisse]]'' (1962). These three films are commonly referred to as a trilogy because they are stylistically similar and all concerned with the alienation of humanity within the modern world. His first color film, ''[[Il deserto rosso]]'' (''Red Desert,'' 1964), deals with similar themes, and is sometimes considered the fourth film of the "trilogy."
  
 
===English-language films===
 
===English-language films===
Antonioni then signed a deal with producer [[Carlo Ponti]] that would allow artistic freedom on three films in [[English language|English]] to be released by [[MGM]]. The first, ''[[Blowup]]'' (1966), which was set in England, was a major success. Although it dealt with the challenging theme of the impossibility of objective standards and the ever-doubtable truth of memory, it was a successful and popular hit with audiences, no doubt helped by its sex scenes, which were explicit for the time. It starred [[David Hemmings]] and [[Vanessa Redgrave]].  
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Antonioni then signed a deal with producer [[Carlo Ponti]] that would allow artistic freedom on three films in [[English language|English]] to be released by [[MGM]]. The first, ''[[Blowup]]'' (1966), which was set in England, was a major success. Although it dealt with the challenging theme of the impossibility of objective standards and the ever-doubtable truth of memory, it was a successful and popular hit with audiences, no doubt helped by its sex scenes, which were quite explicit for the time. It starred [[David Hemmings]] and [[Vanessa Redgrave]].  
  
The second film, ''[[Zabriskie Point (film)|Zabriskie Point]]'' (1970), was Antonioni's first set in America. It was much less successful, even though its soundtrack incorporated popular artists such as [[Pink Floyd]] (who wrote new music specifically for the film), the [[Grateful Dead]], and the [[Rolling Stones]]. It depicted the [[counterculture]] movement, but was heavily criticized for the blank performances of its stars, neither of whom had acted before.
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The second film, ''[[Zabriskie Point (film)|Zabriskie Point]]'' (1970), was Antonioni's first set in America. It was much less successful, even though its soundtrack incorporated popular artists, such as [[Pink Floyd]] (who wrote new music specifically for the film), the [[Grateful Dead]], and the [[Rolling Stones]]. It depicted the [[counterculture]] movement, but was heavily criticized for the blank performances of its stars, neither of whom had acted before.
  
The third, ''[[The Passenger (film)|The Passenger]]'' (1975), starring [[Jack Nicholson]], received critical praise, but also did poorly at the box office. It was out of circulation for many years, but was re-released for a limited theatrical run in October 2005 and has subsequently been released on [[DVD]].
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The third, ''[[The Passenger (film)|The Passenger]]'' (1975), starring [[Jack Nicholson]], received critical praise, but also did poorly at the box office. It was out of circulation for many years, but was re-released for a limited theatrical run in October 2005, and has subsequently been released on [[DVD]].
  
In 1972, in between ''Zabriskie Point'' and ''The Passenger'', Antonioni was invited by the [[Government of the People's Republic of China]] in the aftermath of the [[Cultural Revolution]] to visit [[China]]. He made the documentary ''Chung Kuo/Cina'', but it was severely denounced by the Chinese authorities as "anti-Chinese" and "anti-communist".<ref>[[Eco, Umberto]] & Christine Leefeldt, "De Interpretatione, or the Difficulty of Being Marco Polo [On the Occasion of Antonioni's China Film]", ''[[Film Quarterly]]'' 30.4, Special Book Issue, 8-12, 1977</ref> <ref>Seymour Chatman,
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In 1972, in between ''Zabriskie Point'' and ''The Passenger,'' Antonioni was invited by the [[Government of the People's Republic of China]] in the aftermath of the [[Cultural Revolution]] to visit [[China]]. He made the documentary, ''Chung Kuo/Cina,'' but it was severely denounced by the Chinese authorities as "anti-Chinese" and "anti-communist."<ref>Umberto Eco and Christine Leefeldt, De Interpretatione, or the Difficulty of Being Marco Polo (On the Occasion of Antonioni's China Film), ''Film Quarterly'' 30.4: Special Book Issue: 8-12.</ref> The documentary had its first showing in China in November 25, 2004, in [[Beijing]] with a film festival hosted by the [[Beijing Film Academy]] to honor the works of Michelangelo Antonioni.
''Antonioni, or The Surface of the World''. L.A.: [[University of California Press]], 1985, p.174. ISBN 0-520-05341-9</ref> <ref>''A Vicious Motive, Despicable Tricks—A Criticism of Antonioni's Anti-China Film "China"'', Beijing,  [[Foreign Languages Press]] 1974; an English translation of an article in [[Renmin Ribao]] of 30 November 1070.</ref> The documentary had its first showing in China in [[November]] [[25th]], [[2004]] in [[Beijing]] with a film festival hosted by the [[Beijing Film Academy]] to honor the works of Michelangelo Antonioni<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-126558190.html Doc finally screens in Beijing] Retrieved November 22, 2007.</ref>.
 
  
 
===Last films===
 
===Last films===
In 1980, Antonioni made ''[[Il mistero di Oberwald]]'' (''The Mystery of Oberwald''), an experiment in the electronic treatment of color, recorded in video and then translated to film, featuring [[Monica Vitti]] once again. It is based on [[Jean Cocteau]]'s story ''L'aigle à deux têtes'' (''The Eagle With Two Heads'').
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In 1980, Antonioni made ''[[Il mistero di Oberwald]]'' ''(The Mystery of Oberwald)'', an experiment in the electronic treatment of color, recorded in video and then translated to film, featuring [[Monica Vitti]] once again. It is based on [[Jean Cocteau]]'s story, ''L'aigle à deux têtes'' ''(The Eagle With Two Heads)''.
  
''[[Identificazione di una donna]]'' (''Identification of a Woman'', 1982), filmed in Italy, deals one more time with the recursive subjects of his Italian trilogy.
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''[[Identificazione di una donna]]'' (''Identification of a Woman,'' 1982), filmed in Italy, deals one more time with the recursive subjects of his Italian trilogy.
  
In 1985, Antonioni suffered a stroke, which left him partly paralyzed and unable to speak. However, he continued to make films, including ''[[Beyond the Clouds]]'' (1995), for which [[Wim Wenders]] filmed some scenes. As Wenders has explained, Antonioni rejected almost all the material filmed by Wenders during the editing, except for a few short interludes.<ref>Wim Wenders, My Time With Antonioni: The Diary of an Extraordinary Experience, Faber & Faber, 2000</ref> They shared the FIPRESCI Prize at the [[Venice Film Festival]] with ''[[Cyclo]]''.
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In 1985, Antonioni suffered a stroke, which left him partly paralyzed and unable to speak. However, he continued to make films, including ''[[Beyond the Clouds]]'' (1995), for which [[Wim Wenders]] filmed some scenes. As Wenders has explained, Antonioni rejected almost all the material filmed by Wenders during the editing, except for a few short interludes.<ref>Wim Wenders, ''My Time With Antonioni: The Diary of an Extraordinary Experience'' (New York: Faber & Faber, 2000). ISBN 0571200761</ref> They shared the FIPRESCI Prize at the [[Venice Film Festival]] with ''[[Cyclo]]''.
  
 
In 1996, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]]. It was presented to him by [[Jack Nicholson]]. Months later, the statuette was stolen by burglars and had to be replaced. Previously, he had been nominated for [[Academy Award]]s for Best Director and Best Screenplay for ''[[Blowup]]''.
 
In 1996, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]]. It was presented to him by [[Jack Nicholson]]. Months later, the statuette was stolen by burglars and had to be replaced. Previously, he had been nominated for [[Academy Award]]s for Best Director and Best Screenplay for ''[[Blowup]]''.
  
Antonioni's final film, made when he was in his 90s, was a segment of the [[anthology film]] ''[[Eros (film)|Eros]]'' (2004), entitled "Il filo pericoloso delle cose" ("The Dangerous Thread of Things"). The short film's episodes are framed by dreamy paintings and the song "Michelangelo Antonioni", composed and sung by [[Caetano Veloso]].<ref> [http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/53/cronaca.htm Ian Johnston, "We’re Not Happy and We Never Will Be]: On ''Cronaca di un amore'' ", ''[[Bright Lights Film Journal]]'', #53, August 2006.</ref> However, it was not well-received; [[Roger Ebert]], for example, claimed that it was neither erotic nor about eroticism.<ref>[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050407/REVIEWS/50323002/1001 Review of ''Eros''] by [[Roger Ebert]], April 8, 2005.</ref> The U.S. DVD release of the film includes another [[2004]] short film by Antonioni, ''Lo sguardo di Michelangelo'' (''The Gaze of Michelangelo'').
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Antonioni's final film, made when he was in his 90s, was a segment of the [[anthology film]] ''[[Eros (film)|Eros]]'' (2004), entitled "Il filo pericoloso delle cose" ("The Dangerous Thread of Things"). The short film's episodes are framed by dreamy paintings and the song "Michelangelo Antonioni," composed and sung by [[Caetano Veloso]].<ref>Ian Johnston,  [http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/53/cronaca.htm We’re Not Happy and We Never Will Be]. ''Bright Lights Film Journal''. 53. Retrieved November 26, 2007.</ref> However, it was not well-received; [[Roger Ebert]], for example, claimed that it was neither erotic nor about eroticism.<ref>Roger Ebert, [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050407/REVIEWS/50323002/1001 Review of ''Eros''.] Retrieved November 26, 2007.</ref> The U.S. DVD release of the film includes another 2004 short film by Antonioni, ''Lo sguardo di Michelangelo'' ''(The Gaze of Michelangelo)''.
  
Antonioni died on [[July 30]] [[2007]] in Rome, aged 94, the same day that another renowned film director, [[Ingmar Bergman]], also died. Antonioni lay in state at City Hall in Rome until his funeral, where a large screen showed black-and-white footage of him around his film sets and backstage. He was buried in his beloved home town of Ferrara on August 2, 2007.
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Antonioni died on July 30, 2007, in Rome, aged 94, the same day that another renowned film director, [[Ingmar Bergman]], also died. Antonioni lay in state at City Hall in Rome until his funeral, where a large screen showed black-and-white footage of him around his film sets and backstage. He was buried in his beloved home town of Ferrara on August 2, 2007.
  
 
==Themes and style==
 
==Themes and style==
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Film historian Virginia Wright Wexman describes Antonioni's perspective on the world as that of a "[[Atheism|postreligious]] [[Marxism|Marxist]] and [[existentialist]] intellectual."<ref>Virgina Wright Wexman, ''A History of Film'' (Boston: Pearson, 2006). ISBN 020544976X</ref> In a speech at Cannes about ''L'Avventura,'' Antonioni said that in the modern age of [[reason]] and [[science]], humankind still lives by "a rigid and stereotyped morality which all of us recognize as such and yet sustain out of cowardice and sheer laziness." He said his films explore the paradox that "we have examined those moral attitudes very carefully, we have dissected them and analyzed them to the point of exhaustion. We have been capable of all this, but we have not been capable of finding new ones."<ref>Michelangelo Antonioni, [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=98&eid=107§ion=essay Cannes Statement,] ''The Criterion Collection website.'' Retrieved November 26, 2007.</ref> Nine years later he expressed a similar attitude in an interview, saying that he loathed the word "morality:" "When man becomes reconciled to nature, when space becomes his true background, these words and concepts will have lost their meaning, and we will no longer have to use them."<ref>Charles Samuels, ''Encountering Directors'' (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1972). ISBN 0399110232</ref>
  
Film historian Virginia Wright Wexman describes Antonioni's perspective on the world as that of a "[[Atheism|postreligious]] [[Marxism|Marxist]] and [[existentialist]] intellectual."<ref name="wexman">Virginia Wright Wexman, ''A History of Film'', 6e (Pearson, 2006), 312.</ref> In a speech at Cannes about ''L'Avventura'', Antonioni said that in the modern age of [[reason]] and [[science]], mankind still lives by "a rigid and stereotyped morality which all of us recognize as such and yet sustain out of cowardice and sheer laziness". He said his films explore the paradox that "we have examined those moral attitudes very carefully, we have dissected them and analyzed them to the point of exhaustion. We have been capable of all this, but we have not been capable of finding new ones."<ref>Antonioni, 'Cannes Statement', repr. [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=98&eid=107&section=essay The Criterion Collection website].</ref> Nine years later he expressed a similar attitude in an interview, saying that he loathed the word 'morality': "When man becomes reconciled to nature, when space becomes his true background, these words and concepts will have lost their meaning, and we will no longer have to use them."<ref>[http://ruby.fgcu.edu/courses/Tdugas/80208/download/antonioni.html Michelangelo Antonioni. Interview. Rome, July 29, 1969]. In: Charles Thomas Samuels, ''Encountering Directors''. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1972, pp. 15-32.</ref>
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Hence, one of the recurring themes in Antonioni's films is characters who suffer from [[ennui]] and whose lives are empty and purposeless aside from the gratification of pleasure or the pursuit of material wealth. Film historian [[David Bordwell]] writes that in his films, "Vacations, parties, and artistic pursuits are vain efforts to conceal the characters' lack of purpose and emotion. Sexuality is reduced to casual seduction, enterprise to the pursuit of wealth at any cost."<ref>David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, ''Film History: An Introduction'' (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2003). ISBN 0070384290</ref>
  
Hence, one of the recurring themes in Antonioni's films is characters who suffer from [[ennui]] and whose lives are empty and purposeless aside from the gratification of pleasure or the pursuit of material wealth. Film historian [[David Bordwell]] writes that in his films, "Vacations, parties and artistic pursuits are vain efforts to conceal the characters' lack of purpose and emotion. Sexuality is reduced to casual seduction, enterprise to the pursuit of wealth at any cost."<ref name="bordwell">David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, ''Film History: An Introduction'' (McGraw-Hill, 2003), p. 427-428.</ref>
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Antonioni's films tend to have spare plots and dialogue, and much of the screen time is spent lingering on certain settings, such as the ten-minute [[long take|continuous take]] in ''The Passenger,'' or the scene in ''L'Eclisse'' in which Monica Vitti stares curiously at electrical posts accompanied by ambient sounds of wires clanking. Virginia Wright Wexman describes his style thus:
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<blockquote>The camera is placed at a medium distance more often than close in, frequently moving slowly; the shots are permitted to extend uninterrupted by cutting. Thus each image is more complex, containing more information than it would in a style in which a smaller area is framed … In Antonioni's work we must regard his images at length; he forces our full attention by continuing the shot long after others would cut away.</blockquote>
  
Antonioni's films tend to have spare plots and dialogue, and much of the screen time is spent lingering on certain settings, such as the ten-minute [[long take|continuous take]] in ''The Passenger'', or the scene in ''L'Eclisse'' in which Monica Vitti stares curiously at electrical posts accompanied by ambient sounds of wires clanking. Virginia Wright Wexman describes his style thus:
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Antonioni is also noted for exploiting color as a significant expressive element of his cinematic style, especially in ''[[Il deserto rosso]],'' his first [[color film]].
:"The camera is placed at a medium distance more often than close in, frequently moving slowly; the shots are permitted to extend uninterrupted by cutting. Thus each image is more complex, containing more information than it would in a style in which a smaller area is framed ... In Antonioni's work we must regard his images at length; he forces our full attention by continuing the shot long after others would cut away."<ref name="wexman"/>
 
 
 
Antonioni is also noted for exploiting color as a significant expressive element of his cinematic style, especially in ''[[Il deserto rosso]]'', his first [[color film]].{{Who|date=August 2007}}
 
  
 
==Legacy==
 
==Legacy==
David Bordwell states that Antonioni's films were extremely influential on subsequent [[art film]]s: "more than any other director, he encouraged filmmakers to explore elliptical and open-ended narrative".<ref name="bordwell"/>
+
David Bordwell states that Antonioni's films were extremely influential on subsequent [[art film]]s: "More than any other director, he encouraged filmmakers to explore elliptical and open-ended narrative."
  
Antonioni's spare style and purposeless characters have not been admired by all critics. [[Ingmar Bergman]] once remarked that he admired some of Antonioni's films for their detached and sometimes dreamlike quality. However, while he considered ''[[Blowup]]'' and ''[[La notte]]'' masterpieces, he called the other films boring and noted that he had never understood why Antonioni was held in such esteem. <ref>Aghed, Jan (2002). När Bergman går på bio. ''[[Sydsvenska Dagbladet]]'', 12 maj 2002.</ref> Coincidentally, both Antonioni and Bergman died on the same day in 2007.
+
Antonioni's spare style and purposeless characters have not been admired by all critics. [[Ingmar Bergman]] once remarked that he admired some of Antonioni's films for their detached and sometimes dreamlike quality. However, while he considered ''[[Blowup]]'' and ''[[La notte]]'' masterpieces, he called the other films boring and noted that he had never understood why Antonioni was held in such esteem. Coincidentally, both Antonioni and Bergman died on the same day in 2007.
  
In the [[1992]] interview book ''[[This Is Orson Welles]]'' by [[Peter Bogdanovich]], [[Orson Welles|Welles]] remarks: "I don't like to dwell on things. It's one of the reasons I'm so bored with Antonioni -that belief that, because a shot is good, it's going to get better if you keep looking at it. He gives you a full shot of somebody walking down a road. And you think, 'Well, he's not going to carry that woman all the way up that road.' But he ''does''. And then she leaves and you go on looking at the road after she's gone." <ref name="bogdanovich">Peter Bogdanovich '[[This Is Orson Welles]]', HarperPerennial 1992, page 103-104. ISBN 0-06-092439-X </ref>
+
In the 1992 interview book, ''[[This Is Orson Welles]]'' by [[Peter Bogdanovich]], [[Orson Welles|Welles]] remarks: "I don't like to dwell on things. It's one of the reasons I'm so bored with Antonioni--that belief that, because a shot is good, it's going to get better if you keep looking at it. He gives you a full shot of somebody walking down a road. And you think, 'Well, he's not going to carry that woman all the way up that road.' But he ''does''. And then she leaves and you go on looking at the road after she's gone."<ref>Peter Bogdanovich, ''This Is Orson Welles'' (New York: HarperPerennial, 1992). ISBN 0-06-092439-X</ref>
  
Antonioni's name appears in the song "La Vie Boheme" from the popular musical ''Rent'', in the company of other cultural icons like Bertolucci and Kurosawa.
+
Antonioni's name appears in the song "La Vie Boheme" from the popular musical ''Rent,'' in the company of other cultural icons like [[Bernardo Bertolucci]] and [[Akira Kurosawa]].
  
 
==Filmography==
 
==Filmography==
 
===Feature films===
 
===Feature films===
* ''[[Cronaca di un amore]]'' (''Chronicle of a Love'', 1950)
+
* ''[[Cronaca di un amore]]'' (''Chronicle of a Love,'' 1950)
* ''[[I vinti]]'' (''The Vanquished'', 1952)
+
* ''[[I vinti]]'' (''The Vanquished,'' 1952)
* ''[[La signora senza camelie]]'' (''Camille Without Camellias'', 1953)
+
* ''[[La signora senza camelie]]'' (''Camille Without Camellias,'' 1953)
* ''[[Le amiche]]'' (''The Girl Friends'', 1955)
+
* ''[[Le amiche]]'' (''The Girl Friends,'' 1955)
* ''[[Il grido]]'' (''The Outcry'', 1957)
+
* ''[[Il grido]]'' (''The Outcry,'' 1957)
* ''[[L'avventura]]'' (''The Adventure'', 1960)
+
* ''[[L'avventura]]'' (''The Adventure,'' 1960)
* ''[[La notte]]'' (''The Night'', 1961)
+
* ''[[La notte]]'' (''The Night,'' 1961)
* ''[[L'eclisse]]'' (''The Eclipse'', 1962)
+
* ''[[L'eclisse]]'' (''The Eclipse,'' 1962)
* ''[[Il deserto rosso]]'' (''The Red Desert'', 1964)
+
* ''[[Il deserto rosso]]'' (''The Red Desert,'' 1964)
 
* ''[[Blowup]]'' (1966)
 
* ''[[Blowup]]'' (1966)
 
* ''[[Zabriskie Point (film)|Zabriskie Point]]'' (1970)
 
* ''[[Zabriskie Point (film)|Zabriskie Point]]'' (1970)
 
* ''Chung Kuo'' (documentary, 1972)
 
* ''Chung Kuo'' (documentary, 1972)
* ''[[Professione: reporter]]'' (''The Passenger'', 1975)
+
* ''[[Professione: reporter]]'' (''The Passenger,'' 1975)
* ''[[Il mistero di Oberwald]]'' (''The Mystery of Oberwald'', 1981)
+
* ''[[Il mistero di Oberwald]]'' (''The Mystery of Oberwald,'' 1981)
* ''[[Identificazione di una donna]]'' (''Identification of a Woman'', 1982)
+
* ''[[Identificazione di una donna]]'' (''Identification of a Woman,'' 1982)
* ''[[Al di là delle nuvole|Beyond the Clouds]]'' (''Par Dela Les Nuages'', 1995 - co-credited with [[Wim Wenders]])
+
* ''[[Al di là delle nuvole|Beyond the Clouds]]'' (''Par Dela Les Nuages,'' 1995--co-credited with [[Wim Wenders]])
 +
 
 
===Short films===
 
===Short films===
* ''Gente del Po'' (''People of the Po'', 10 min, shot in 1943, released in 1947)
+
* ''Gente del Po'' (''People of the Po,'' 10 min, shot in 1943, released in 1947)
* ''[[N.U.]] (Nettezza urbana)'' (''Dustmen'', 11 min, 1948)
+
* ''[[N.U.]] (Nettezza urbana)'' (''Dustmen,'' 11 min, 1948)
 
* ''Oltre l'oblio'' (1948)
 
* ''Oltre l'oblio'' (1948)
 
* ''Roma-Montevideo'' (1948)
 
* ''Roma-Montevideo'' (1948)
* ''L'amorosa menzogna'' (''Loving Lie'', 10 min, 1949)
+
* ''L'amorosa menzogna'' (''Loving Lie,'' 10 min, 1949)
* ''Sette cani e un vestito'' (''Seven Reeds, One Suit'', 10 min, 1949)
+
* ''Sette cani e un vestito'' (''Seven Reeds, One Suit,'' 10 min, 1949)
 
* ''Bomarzo'' (1949)
 
* ''Bomarzo'' (1949)
* ''Ragazze in bianco'' (''Girls in white'', 1949)
+
* ''Ragazze in bianco'' (''Girls in White,'' 1949)
* ''Superstizione'' (''Superstition'', 9 min, 1949)
+
* ''Superstizione'' (''Superstition,'' 9 min, 1949)
* ''La villa dei mostri'' (''The House of Monsters'', 10 min, 1950)
+
* ''La villa dei mostri'' (''The House of Monsters,'' 10 min, 1950)
* ''La funivia del Faloria'' (''The Funicular of Mount Faloria'', 10 min, 1950)
+
* ''La funivia del Faloria'' (''The Funicular of Mount Faloria,'' 10 min, 1950)
 
* ''Inserto girato a Lisca Bianca'' (TV, 8 min, 1983)
 
* ''Inserto girato a Lisca Bianca'' (TV, 8 min, 1983)
 
* ''Kumbha Mela'' (18 min, 1989)
 
* ''Kumbha Mela'' (18 min, 1989)
* ''Noto, Mandorli, Vulcano, Stromboli, Carnevale'' (''Volcanoes and Carnival'', 8 min, 1993)
+
* ''Noto, Mandorli, Vulcano, Stromboli, Carnevale'' (''Volcanoes and Carnival,'' 8 min, 1993)
 
* ''Sicilia'' (9 min, 1997)
 
* ''Sicilia'' (9 min, 1997)
* ''Lo sguardo di Michelangelo'' (''The Gaze of Michelangelo'', 15 min, 2004)
+
* ''Lo sguardo di Michelangelo'' (''The Gaze of Michelangelo,'' 15 min, 2004)
 +
 
 
===Episodes in omnibus films===
 
===Episodes in omnibus films===
* ''Tentato suicido'' ("When Love Fails", episode in ''[[L'amore in città]]'', 1953)
+
* ''Tentato suicido'' ("When Love Fails," episode in ''[[L'amore in città]],'' 1953)
* ''Il provino'' (segment in ''The Three Faces of a Woman'' - ''I tre volti'', 1965)
+
* ''Il provino'' (segment in ''The Three Faces of a Woman''--''I tre volti,'' 1965)
* ''Roma'' (segment in ''12 registi per 12 città'', promotional film for [[1990 FIFA World Cup|Soccer World Championship]], 1989)
+
* ''Roma'' (segment in ''12 registi per 12 città,'' promotional film for [[1990 FIFA World Cup|Soccer World Championship]], 1989)
* ''Il filo pericoloso delle cose'' ("The Dangerous Thread of Things", segment in ''[[Eros (film)|Eros]]'', 2004)
+
* ''Il filo pericoloso delle cose'' ("The Dangerous Thread of Things," segment in ''[[Eros (film)|Eros]],'' 2004)
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
+
<references/>
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
*Bogdanovich, Peter. ''This is Orson Wells''. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1992. ISBN 9780060166168
+
*Bogdanovich, Peter. 1992. ''This is Orson Wells''. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060166168
*Seymour Chatman, ''Antonioni, or The Surface of the World''. L.A.: University of California Press, 1985, p.174. ISBN 0-520-05341-9
+
*Chatman, Seymour. 1985. ''Antonioni, or The Surface of the World''. Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-05341-9
*David A. Cook, ''A History of Narrative Film'', New York: Norton, 1981. ISBN 9780393090222
+
*Cook, David A. 1981. ''A History of Narrative Film.'' New York: Norton. ISBN 9780393090222
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
All links Retrieved November 22, 2007.
+
All links retrieved October 2, 2018.
{{wikiquote}}
+
* {{imdb name|id=0000774|name=Michelangelo Antonioni}}.  
* {{imdb name|id=0000774|name=Michelangelo Antonioni}}
+
* [http://www.phinnweb.org/links/cinema/directors/antonioni/ Michelangelo Antonioni at pHinnWeb].  
* [http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/02/antonioni.html Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database]
+
* {{fr icon}} [http://vanisback.free.fr/antonioni/accueil.html Michelangelo Antonioni].  
* [http://www.phinnweb.org/links/cinema/directors/antonioni/ Michelangelo Antonioni @ pHinnWeb]
+
* [http://www.ericjlyman.com/thrantonioni.html Obituary from The Hollywood Reporter].  
* [http://home.comcast.net/~rogerdeforest/antonioni/mawords.html Michaelangel Antonioni essays and interviews]
+
* [http://www.davidsaulrosenfeld.com/ Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Eclisse] new major free Internet book on Antonioni and all of his films using "L'eclisse" as guide/template.
* {{fr icon}} [http://vanisback.free.fr/antonioni/accueil.html Michelangelo Antonioni]
+
 
* [http://www.fotopalmas.com/_indici/Antonioni_Michelangelo.htm Pictures of Antonioni] by [[Giuseppe Palmas]], Rome, [[December 22]][[1954]].
 
* "Michelangelo Antonioni—a flawed legacy", Part  [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/nov2004/mic1-n10.shtml]and Part  [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/nov2004/mic2-n11.shtml] ''[[World Socialist Web Site]]''
 
* [http://www.ericjlyman.com/thrantonioni.html Obituary from The Hollywood Reporter]
 
* [http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/famousperson/antonioni/2612175 Obituary and public tributes]
 
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOU0vyUxBi4 M. Antonioni - The Beginning and the End (YouTube)]
 
* [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/antonioni.html Antonioni Bibliography (via UC Berkeley)]
 
* [http://www.davidsaulrosenfeld.com/ Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Eclisse] new major free Internet book on Antonioni and all of his films using "L'eclisse" as guide/template
 
 
{{Antonioni}}
 
{{Antonioni}}
{{CinemaofItaly}}
 
  
 
[[Category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]]
 
[[Category:Art, music, literature, sports and leisure]]
 +
[[Category:Biography]]
 +
[[Category:Art]]
 +
 
{{credit1|Michelangelo_Antonioni|164559526}}
 
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Latest revision as of 17:12, 9 November 2022

Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni.jpg
Michelangelo Antonioni
Date of birth: September 29 1912(1912-09-29)
Date of death: July 30 2007 (aged 94)
Death location: Rome, Italy
Academy Awards: Academy Honorary Award
1995 Lifetime Achievement
Spouse: Letizia Balboni (1942–1954)
Enrica Antonioni (1986–2007)

Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (September 29, 1912 – July 30, 2007) was an Italian modernist film director whose films are widely considered as some of the most influential in film aesthetics. His non-linear plot and open-ended style became one of the hallmarks of the European art film.

Antonioni's films reflected the intellectual milieu of his day, especially Marxism and existentialism. A critic of traditional morality, his films displayed the modern paradox that humanist values often lead to both hedonism and boredom.

Biography

Early life

Michelangelo Antonioni was born in Ferrara, Emilia Romagna. Upon graduation from the University of Bologna with a degree in economics, he started writing for the local Ferrara newspaper, Il Corriere Padano, in 1935, as a film journalist.

In 1940, Antonioni moved to Rome, where he worked for Cinema, the official Fascist film magazine edited by Vittorio Mussolini. However, Antonioni was fired a few months afterward. Later that year, he enrolled at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia to study film technique.

First films

In 1942, Antonioni co-wrote Un pilota ritorna, together with Roberto Rossellini and worked as assistant director on Enrico Fulchignoni's I due Foscari. In 1943, Antonioni traveled to France to assist Marcel Carné on Les visiteurs du soir. Antonioni started shooting short films in the 1940s, with Gente del Po, a story of poor fishermen of the Po valley, on which he worked from 1943 until 1947. These films were neo-realist in style; semi-documentary studies of the lives of ordinary people.[1]

However, Antonioni's first full-length feature film, Cronaca di un amore (1950), broke away from neorealism by depicting the middle classes. He continued to do so in a series of other films: I vinti (The Vanquished, 1952), a trio of stories, each set in a different country (France, Italy and England), about juvenile delinquency; La signora senza camelie (The Lady Without Camellias, 1953) about a young film star and her fall from grace; and Le amiche (The Girlfriends, 1955) about middle class women in Turin. Il grido (The Outcry, 1957) was a return to working class stories, depicting a factory worker and his daughter. Each of these stories is about social alienation.

International success

In Le Amiche, Antonioni had experimented with a radical new style. Instead of a conventional narrative, he presented a series of apparently disconnected events, and he utilized the long take frequently. This style is potentially frustrating due to its slow pacing and lack of forward momentum. However, Antonioni returned to the style in L'avventura (1960), which was his first international success. The response at the Cannes Film Festival was a mixture of cheers and boos,[2] but the film was popular in art house cinemas across the world. Antonioni followed it with La notte (1961) and L'eclisse (1962). These three films are commonly referred to as a trilogy because they are stylistically similar and all concerned with the alienation of humanity within the modern world. His first color film, Il deserto rosso (Red Desert, 1964), deals with similar themes, and is sometimes considered the fourth film of the "trilogy."

English-language films

Antonioni then signed a deal with producer Carlo Ponti that would allow artistic freedom on three films in English to be released by MGM. The first, Blowup (1966), which was set in England, was a major success. Although it dealt with the challenging theme of the impossibility of objective standards and the ever-doubtable truth of memory, it was a successful and popular hit with audiences, no doubt helped by its sex scenes, which were quite explicit for the time. It starred David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave.

The second film, Zabriskie Point (1970), was Antonioni's first set in America. It was much less successful, even though its soundtrack incorporated popular artists, such as Pink Floyd (who wrote new music specifically for the film), the Grateful Dead, and the Rolling Stones. It depicted the counterculture movement, but was heavily criticized for the blank performances of its stars, neither of whom had acted before.

The third, The Passenger (1975), starring Jack Nicholson, received critical praise, but also did poorly at the box office. It was out of circulation for many years, but was re-released for a limited theatrical run in October 2005, and has subsequently been released on DVD.

In 1972, in between Zabriskie Point and The Passenger, Antonioni was invited by the Government of the People's Republic of China in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution to visit China. He made the documentary, Chung Kuo/Cina, but it was severely denounced by the Chinese authorities as "anti-Chinese" and "anti-communist."[3] The documentary had its first showing in China in November 25, 2004, in Beijing with a film festival hosted by the Beijing Film Academy to honor the works of Michelangelo Antonioni.

Last films

In 1980, Antonioni made Il mistero di Oberwald (The Mystery of Oberwald), an experiment in the electronic treatment of color, recorded in video and then translated to film, featuring Monica Vitti once again. It is based on Jean Cocteau's story, L'aigle à deux têtes (The Eagle With Two Heads).

Identificazione di una donna (Identification of a Woman, 1982), filmed in Italy, deals one more time with the recursive subjects of his Italian trilogy.

In 1985, Antonioni suffered a stroke, which left him partly paralyzed and unable to speak. However, he continued to make films, including Beyond the Clouds (1995), for which Wim Wenders filmed some scenes. As Wenders has explained, Antonioni rejected almost all the material filmed by Wenders during the editing, except for a few short interludes.[4] They shared the FIPRESCI Prize at the Venice Film Festival with Cyclo.

In 1996, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Academy Award. It was presented to him by Jack Nicholson. Months later, the statuette was stolen by burglars and had to be replaced. Previously, he had been nominated for Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay for Blowup.

Antonioni's final film, made when he was in his 90s, was a segment of the anthology film Eros (2004), entitled "Il filo pericoloso delle cose" ("The Dangerous Thread of Things"). The short film's episodes are framed by dreamy paintings and the song "Michelangelo Antonioni," composed and sung by Caetano Veloso.[5] However, it was not well-received; Roger Ebert, for example, claimed that it was neither erotic nor about eroticism.[6] The U.S. DVD release of the film includes another 2004 short film by Antonioni, Lo sguardo di Michelangelo (The Gaze of Michelangelo).

Antonioni died on July 30, 2007, in Rome, aged 94, the same day that another renowned film director, Ingmar Bergman, also died. Antonioni lay in state at City Hall in Rome until his funeral, where a large screen showed black-and-white footage of him around his film sets and backstage. He was buried in his beloved home town of Ferrara on August 2, 2007.

Themes and style

Film historian Virginia Wright Wexman describes Antonioni's perspective on the world as that of a "postreligious Marxist and existentialist intellectual."[7] In a speech at Cannes about L'Avventura, Antonioni said that in the modern age of reason and science, humankind still lives by "a rigid and stereotyped morality which all of us recognize as such and yet sustain out of cowardice and sheer laziness." He said his films explore the paradox that "we have examined those moral attitudes very carefully, we have dissected them and analyzed them to the point of exhaustion. We have been capable of all this, but we have not been capable of finding new ones."[8] Nine years later he expressed a similar attitude in an interview, saying that he loathed the word "morality:" "When man becomes reconciled to nature, when space becomes his true background, these words and concepts will have lost their meaning, and we will no longer have to use them."[9]

Hence, one of the recurring themes in Antonioni's films is characters who suffer from ennui and whose lives are empty and purposeless aside from the gratification of pleasure or the pursuit of material wealth. Film historian David Bordwell writes that in his films, "Vacations, parties, and artistic pursuits are vain efforts to conceal the characters' lack of purpose and emotion. Sexuality is reduced to casual seduction, enterprise to the pursuit of wealth at any cost."[10]

Antonioni's films tend to have spare plots and dialogue, and much of the screen time is spent lingering on certain settings, such as the ten-minute continuous take in The Passenger, or the scene in L'Eclisse in which Monica Vitti stares curiously at electrical posts accompanied by ambient sounds of wires clanking. Virginia Wright Wexman describes his style thus:

The camera is placed at a medium distance more often than close in, frequently moving slowly; the shots are permitted to extend uninterrupted by cutting. Thus each image is more complex, containing more information than it would in a style in which a smaller area is framed … In Antonioni's work we must regard his images at length; he forces our full attention by continuing the shot long after others would cut away.

Antonioni is also noted for exploiting color as a significant expressive element of his cinematic style, especially in Il deserto rosso, his first color film.

Legacy

David Bordwell states that Antonioni's films were extremely influential on subsequent art films: "More than any other director, he encouraged filmmakers to explore elliptical and open-ended narrative."

Antonioni's spare style and purposeless characters have not been admired by all critics. Ingmar Bergman once remarked that he admired some of Antonioni's films for their detached and sometimes dreamlike quality. However, while he considered Blowup and La notte masterpieces, he called the other films boring and noted that he had never understood why Antonioni was held in such esteem. Coincidentally, both Antonioni and Bergman died on the same day in 2007.

In the 1992 interview book, This Is Orson Welles by Peter Bogdanovich, Welles remarks: "I don't like to dwell on things. It's one of the reasons I'm so bored with Antonioni—that belief that, because a shot is good, it's going to get better if you keep looking at it. He gives you a full shot of somebody walking down a road. And you think, 'Well, he's not going to carry that woman all the way up that road.' But he does. And then she leaves and you go on looking at the road after she's gone."[11]

Antonioni's name appears in the song "La Vie Boheme" from the popular musical Rent, in the company of other cultural icons like Bernardo Bertolucci and Akira Kurosawa.

Filmography

Feature films

  • Cronaca di un amore (Chronicle of a Love, 1950)
  • I vinti (The Vanquished, 1952)
  • La signora senza camelie (Camille Without Camellias, 1953)
  • Le amiche (The Girl Friends, 1955)
  • Il grido (The Outcry, 1957)
  • L'avventura (The Adventure, 1960)
  • La notte (The Night, 1961)
  • L'eclisse (The Eclipse, 1962)
  • Il deserto rosso (The Red Desert, 1964)
  • Blowup (1966)
  • Zabriskie Point (1970)
  • Chung Kuo (documentary, 1972)
  • Professione: reporter (The Passenger, 1975)
  • Il mistero di Oberwald (The Mystery of Oberwald, 1981)
  • Identificazione di una donna (Identification of a Woman, 1982)
  • Beyond the Clouds (Par Dela Les Nuages, 1995—co-credited with Wim Wenders)

Short films

  • Gente del Po (People of the Po, 10 min, shot in 1943, released in 1947)
  • N.U. (Nettezza urbana) (Dustmen, 11 min, 1948)
  • Oltre l'oblio (1948)
  • Roma-Montevideo (1948)
  • L'amorosa menzogna (Loving Lie, 10 min, 1949)
  • Sette cani e un vestito (Seven Reeds, One Suit, 10 min, 1949)
  • Bomarzo (1949)
  • Ragazze in bianco (Girls in White, 1949)
  • Superstizione (Superstition, 9 min, 1949)
  • La villa dei mostri (The House of Monsters, 10 min, 1950)
  • La funivia del Faloria (The Funicular of Mount Faloria, 10 min, 1950)
  • Inserto girato a Lisca Bianca (TV, 8 min, 1983)
  • Kumbha Mela (18 min, 1989)
  • Noto, Mandorli, Vulcano, Stromboli, Carnevale (Volcanoes and Carnival, 8 min, 1993)
  • Sicilia (9 min, 1997)
  • Lo sguardo di Michelangelo (The Gaze of Michelangelo, 15 min, 2004)

Episodes in omnibus films

  • Tentato suicido ("When Love Fails," episode in L'amore in città, 1953)
  • Il provino (segment in The Three Faces of a WomanI tre volti, 1965)
  • Roma (segment in 12 registi per 12 città, promotional film for Soccer World Championship, 1989)
  • Il filo pericoloso delle cose ("The Dangerous Thread of Things," segment in Eros, 2004)

Notes

  1. David A. Cook, A History of Narrative Film (New York: Norton, 2004). ISBN 0393978680
  2. Penelope Houston, Obituary: Michelangelo Antonioni, The Guardian. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
  3. Umberto Eco and Christine Leefeldt, De Interpretatione, or the Difficulty of Being Marco Polo (On the Occasion of Antonioni's China Film), Film Quarterly 30.4: Special Book Issue: 8-12.
  4. Wim Wenders, My Time With Antonioni: The Diary of an Extraordinary Experience (New York: Faber & Faber, 2000). ISBN 0571200761
  5. Ian Johnston, We’re Not Happy and We Never Will Be. Bright Lights Film Journal. 53. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
  6. Roger Ebert, Review of Eros. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
  7. Virgina Wright Wexman, A History of Film (Boston: Pearson, 2006). ISBN 020544976X
  8. Michelangelo Antonioni, Cannes Statement, The Criterion Collection website. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
  9. Charles Samuels, Encountering Directors (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1972). ISBN 0399110232
  10. David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film History: An Introduction (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2003). ISBN 0070384290
  11. Peter Bogdanovich, This Is Orson Welles (New York: HarperPerennial, 1992). ISBN 0-06-092439-X

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Bogdanovich, Peter. 1992. This is Orson Wells. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060166168
  • Chatman, Seymour. 1985. Antonioni, or The Surface of the World. Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-05341-9
  • Cook, David A. 1981. A History of Narrative Film. New York: Norton. ISBN 9780393090222

External links

All links retrieved October 2, 2018.

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