Michelangelo Antonioni (1912-2007) was an existentialist filmmaker whose films were highly philosophical in their themes. He died on July 30...
Michelangelo Antonioni (1912-2007) was an existentialist filmmaker whose films were highly philosophical in their themes. He died on July 30, 2007.
His film Blow Up may be his most existentialist film. The film scene is
proof of my statement. The final scene showcases the protagonist walking in an
empty field and disappearing into thin air. The film has a lot of sequences
that aren’t important in the slightest, but that’s what makes it
existentialist: our lives are full of unimportant events. And that’s what
Antonioni knew and understood well, and that’s what made him a master of his
craft.
His direction and photography were impeccable. His films were slow but
highly captivating: they held you by your neck and didn’t let you go long after
the film ended. His films followed the mundane lives of normal people who had
something interesting happen to them, but in the end, it was all pointless. His
films usually feature an industrial landscape and how industrialization made us
less “human”.
One of his masterpieces, La Notte, was about marital issues. The film is
very much like Fellini’s La Dolce Vita in terms of its sets and style. The film
features brilliant performances from Marcello Mastroianni, Jeanne Moreau, and
Monica Vitti. The film is, ultimately, about how frail a relationship is, and
Antonioni portrays that brilliantly.
Another one of his masterpieces was L’Eclipse, featuring Alain Delon and
Monica Vitti. The first hour of the film showcases unimportant events in the
characters’ lives and how they bring them closer, making it another one of his
existential masterpieces. The film has an exuberant and jazzy feel, which
slowly burns out throughout the film.
Antonioni may have left us long ago, but we have his films to remember him
by, and that’s more than enough. We can study the master’s craft and marvel at
it and only wonder, ‘How did he do it so perfectly?’
By
Ravit Mishra
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