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Remembering existentialist filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni on his death anniversary

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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