L'Avventura |
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.”
Michelangelo Antonioni was born in 1912 in Ferrara, located
in the region of Emilia Romagna. He attended college in nearby Bologna during
the 1930s where he became involved in theater and painting. After graduation,
he freelanced as a film critic for a local newspaper. Shortly thereafter, he
moved to Rome and tried to make a documentary at of all places, an insane
asylum. The project fell through, but some have said that his experience in
making that film would go on to influence future works, in particular, Tentato Suicidio in 1953.
Many great filmmakers begin their careers with
documentaries, and the same can be said of Antonioni. His first completed film
documented the lives of residents living in a region near Ferrara, Italy. Gente del Po was released in 1947 and revealed Antonioni’s distinct
style of filmmaking that went unparalleled in his time. The success of his
documentaries paved the way for his feature length films. In 1950, Antonioni’s
first feature film, Cronaca di Un Amore was released. The film
echoes noir but the traditional plot recipe belonging to noir was compromised
in order to shift focus to the intense feeling of the characters. Antonioni is
known for his complex, well developed characters who don’t always make morally
sound choices.
Cronaca di un amore |
His first widescreen film and my personal favorite was his
1960 masterpiece L’Avventura in which he tells the story of a
missing person through the experiences of the people heading the search. Those
people, the missing woman’s fiancé and best friend end up having their own
affair. Antonioni's partner and muse Monica Vitti starred in the film and gave
a powerful performance with a brilliant air of indifference. L'Avventura along with his other works of that period, La Notte (1961), L’Eclisse (1962) and Il Deserto Rosso (1964) all share a consistent style, theme,
social setting and plot. Those works brought his career to the level in which
it has remained through the years; an international art house legend, a classic
director with an unprecedented and timeless method to his filmmaking.
Blow Up |
Al di là delle nuvole was Antonioni’s comeback
film after he suffered a severe stroke and was unable to work for thirteen
years. The project was co-directed with German filmmaker, Wim Wenders. The
ensemble cast of Al di là delle nuvole includes John Malkovich,
Vincent Perez, Jean Reno, Marcello Mastroianni and Jean Moreau as well as a
recognizable selection of pop music. Each story, as Antonioni himself said,
invites the viewer to an inner travel “towards the true image of that absolute
and mysterious reality that nobody will ever see.”
Michelangelo Antonioni had his own way of telling and
shooting a story. He saw things when he looked through the lens of a camera
that you and I don’t see. It’s been said that one should see Antonioni’s films
several times over to truly appreciate the way he tells a story through the
visual medium. He passed away in 2007 at the age of 94.
Michelangelo Antonioni
runs through January 7, 2018 at The Museum of Modern Art In New York. Click here for the complete line up of films.
- Jeannine Guilyard
- Jeannine Guilyard
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