Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 30 July 2007 Rome, Italy | (aged 94)
Alma mater | University of Bologna |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1942–2004 |
Spouses | |
Partner | Monica Vitti (1960–1970) |
Michelangelo Antonioni (
Early life
Antonioni was born into a prosperous family of landowners in
My childhood was a happy one. My mother ... was a warm and intelligent woman who had been a labourer in her youth. My father also was a good man. Born into a working-class family, he succeeded in obtaining a comfortable position through evening courses and hard work. My parents gave me free rein to do what I wanted: with my brother, we spent most of our time playing outside with friends. Curiously enough, our friends were invariably proletarian, and poor. The poor still existed at that time, you recognized them by their clothes. But even in the way they wore their clothes, there was a fantasy, a frankness that made me prefer them to boys of bourgeois families. I always had sympathy for young women of working-class families, even later when I attended university: they were more authentic and spontaneous.[6]
— Michelangelo Antonioni
As a child, Antonioni was fond of drawing and music. A precocious violinist, he gave his first concert at the age of nine. Although he abandoned the violin with the discovery of cinema in his teens, drawing would remain a lifelong passion. "I have never drawn, even as a child, either puppets or silhouettes but rather facades of houses and gates. One of my favourite games consisted of organizing towns. Ignorant in architecture, I constructed buildings and streets crammed with little figures. I invented stories for them. These childhood happenings—I was eleven years old—were like little films."[7]
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
Career
Early film work
In 1942, Antonioni co-wrote
However, Antonioni's first full-length feature film
International recognition
In Le Amiche (1955), Antonioni experimented with a radical new style: instead of a conventional narrative, he presented a series of apparently disconnected events, and used
Antonioni then signed a deal with producer
In 1966, Antonioni drafted a treatment entitled "Technically Sweet", which he later developed into a screenplay with
In 1972, Antonioni was invited by the Mao government of the China to visit the country to film the achievements of the Cultural Revolution.[21]: 13 He made the documentary, Chung Kuo, Cina, but it was strongly condemned by the Chinese authorities as "anti-Chinese" and "anti-communist".[22] The documentary had its first showing in China on 25 November 2004, in Beijing, with a film festival hosted by the Beijing Film Academy to honour the works of Antonioni. The film is now well-regarded by Chinese audiences, particularly by people who lived during the Cultural Revolution, for its depictions of a simpler life.[21]: 14
Later career
In 1980, Antonioni directed
In 1994, he was given an Honorary
Antonioni's final film, directed 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 using a series of enigmatic paintings by Antonioni, a luxury sports car that has difficulty negotiating the narrow lanes and archaic stone bridges of the provincial town setting, a bikini-clad women performing a cryptic choreography on a beach, and the song "Michelangelo Antonioni", composed and sung by Caetano Veloso.[24] The film was not well-received internationally. In America, Roger Ebert claimed it was neither erotic nor about eroticism.[25] 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 in Rome, aged 94, on 30 July 2007, the same day as renowned Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman. Antonioni lay in state at City Hall in Rome, where a large screen showed black-and-white footage of him among his film sets and behind-the-scenes. He was buried in his hometown of Ferrara on 2 August 2007.
Style and themes
It's too simplistic to say—as many people have done—that I am condemning the inhuman industrial world which oppresses the individuals and leads them to neurosis. My intention ... was to translate the poetry of the world, in which even factories can be beautiful. The line and curves of factories and their chimneys can be more beautiful than the outline of trees, which we are already too accustomed to seeing. It is a rich world, alive and serviceable ... There are people who do adapt, and others who can't manage, perhaps because they are too tied to ways of life that are by now out-of-date.
—Antonioni, interviewed about Red Desert (1964).[26]
Critic
Antonioni's plots were experimental, ambiguous, and elusive, often featuring middle-class characters who suffer from
Wexman describes Antonioni's perspective on the world as that of a "
Reception and legacy
Bordwell explains that Antonioni was extremely influential on art films: "More than any other director, he encouraged filmmakers to explore elliptical and open-ended narrative."[4] The Guardian described him as, "in essence, a director of extraordinary sequences," and advised viewers to "forget plotting, characters or dialogue, his import is conveyed in absolutely formal terms."[33]
Film director Akira Kurosawa considered Antonioni one of the most interesting filmmakers.[34] Stanley Kubrick listed La Notte as one of his ten favorite films in a 1963 Poll.[35] Andrei Tarkovsky was deeply influenced by Antonioni, especially for the development of his film Nostalghia. In an interview with Serge Kaganski in 2004, Jean-Luc Godard judges that Antonioni is the filmmaker who has most influenced contemporary cinema. Wim Wenders considered Antonioni as a master and the two collaborated as directors for the film Beyond the Clouds. Miklós Jancsó considers Antonioni as his master. American director Martin Scorsese paid tribute to Antonioni following his death in 2007, stating that his films "posed mysteries—or rather the mystery, of who we are, what we are, to each other, to ourselves, to time. You could say that Antonioni was looking directly at the mysteries of the soul."[3] American directors Francis Ford Coppola and Brian De Palma paid homage to Antonioni in their own films.[3]
Antonioni's spare style and purposeless characters, however, have not received universal acclaim.
American actor Peter Weller, whom Antonioni directed in Beyond the Clouds, explained in a 1996 interview: "There is no director living except maybe Kurosawa, Bergman, or Antonioni that I would fall down and do anything for. I met Antonioni three years ago in Taormina at a film festival. I introduced myself and told him that I adored his movies, his contributions to film, because he was the first guy who really started making films about the reality of the vacuity between people, the difficulty in traversing this space between lovers in modern day ... and he never gives you an answer, Antonioni—that's the beautiful thing."[37]
Filmography
Feature films
Year | English title | Original title |
---|---|---|
1950 | Story of a Love Affair | Cronaca di un amore |
1953 | The Vanquished | I Vinti |
1953 | The Lady Without Camelias | La signora senza camelie |
1955 | The Girl Friends | Le Amiche |
1957 | The Cry | Il Grido |
1960 | The Adventure | L'Avventura |
1961 | The Night | La Notte |
1962 | The Eclipse | L'Eclisse |
1964 | Red Desert | Il Deserto Rosso |
1966 | Blowup | |
1970 | Zabriskie Point | |
1972 | Chung Kuo, Cina | documentary |
1975 | The Passenger | Professione: Reporter |
1980 | The Mystery of Oberwald | Il mistero di Oberwald |
1982 | Identification of a Woman | Identificazione di una donna |
1995 | Beyond the Clouds | Al di là delle nuvole |
Short films
- Gente del Po (People of the Po Valley, filmed in 1943, released in 1947) – 10 minutes
- N.U. (Dustmen, 1948) – 11 minutes
- Oltre l'oblio (1948)
- Roma-Montevideo (1948)
- Lies of Love (L'amorosa menzogna, 1949) – 10 minutes
- Sette canne, un vestito (Seven Reeds, One Suit, 1949) – 10 minutes
- Bomarzo (1949)
- Ragazze in bianco (Girls in White, 1949)
- Superstizione (Superstition, 1949) – 9 minutes
- La villa dei mostri (The House of Monsters, 1950) – 10 minutes
- La funivia del Faloria(The Funicular of Mount Faloria, 1950) – 10 minutes
- Tentato suicido (When Love Fails, 1953) – segment in L'amore in città(Love in the City)
- Il delitto (April 20, 1962) - segment in Il fiore e la violenza (The Flower and the Violence)
- Il provino (1965) – segment in I tre volti
- Inserto girato a Lisca Bianca (1983) – 8 minutes
- Kumbha Mela (1989) – 18 minutes
- Roma (Rome, 1989) – segment in 12 registi per 12 città, for the 1990 FIFA World Cup
- Noto, Mandorli, Vulcano, Stromboli, Carnevale (Volcanoes and Carnival, 1993) – 8 minutes
- Sicilia (1997) – 9 minutes
- Lo sguardo di Michelangelo (The Gaze of Michelangelo, 2004) – 15 minutes
- Il filo pericoloso delle cose (The Dangerous Thread of Things, 2004) – segment in Eros
Awards and honors
- Academy Honorary Award (1995)
- FIPRESCIPrize (1961)
- Berlin International Film Festival Golden Bear (1961), for La Notte
- Bodil Award for Best European Film (1976), for The Passenger
- British Film Institute Sutherland Trophy (1960), for L'Avventura
- Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize (1960), for L'Avventura
- Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize (1962), for Eclipse
- Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or (1967), for Blowup
- Cannes Film Festival 35th Anniversary Prize (1982), for Identification of a Woman
- David di Donatello Award for Best Director (1961), for La Notte
- David di Donatello Luchino Visconti Award (1976)
- European Film Awards Life Achievement Award (1993)
- Flaiano PrizeCareer Award in Cinema (2000)
- French Syndicate of Cinema Critics Award for Best Foreign Film (1968), for Blowup
- Giffoni Film Festival François Truffaut Award (1991)
- Giffoni Film Festival Golden Career Gryphon (1995)
- International Istanbul Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award (1996)
- Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon for Best Documentary (1948), for N.U.
- Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon for Best Documentary (1950), for Lies of Love
- Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Special Silver Ribbon (1951), for Story of a Love Affair
- Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon for Best Director (1956), for Le Amiche
- Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon for Best Director (1962), for La Notte
- Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon for Best foreign film Director (1968), for Blow up
- Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Silver Ribbon for Best Director (1976), for The Passenger
- Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director (1968), for Blowup
- Locarno International Film FestivalPrize (1957), for Il Grido
- Montreal World Film Festival Grand Prix Special des Amériques (1995)
- National Society of Film Critics Special Citation Award (2001)
- National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director (2001), for Blowup
- Palm Springs International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award (1998)
- Valladolid International Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize for Short Film (2004), for Michelangelo Eye to Eye
- Venice Film Festival Silver Lion (1955), for Le Amiche
- Venice Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize (1964), for Red Desert
- Venice Film Festival Golden Lion (1964), for Red Desert
- Venice Film Festival Career Golden Lion (1983)
- Venice Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize (1995), for Beyond the Clouds (with Wim Wenders)
- Venice Film Festival Pietro Bianchi Award (1998)
References
Citations
- ^ a b Holden, Stephan (4 June 2006). "Antonioni's Nothingness and Beauty". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
- ^ a b Ankeny, Jason. "Michelangelo Antonioni". AllMovie. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Dalton, Stephen. "What Antonioni's movies mean in the era of mindfulness and #MeToo". British Film Institute. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ a b c Bordwell & Thompson 2002, pp. 427–428.
- ^ "Michelangelo Antonioni, Director". Film Reference. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Tassone 2002, p. 6.
- ^ Tassone 2002, p. 7.
- JSTOR 1211645.
- ^ a b c Cook 2004, p. 535.
- ^ Houston, Penelope (31 July 2007). "Obituary: Michelangelo Antonioni". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (27 September 2012). "Michelangelo Antonioni: Centenary of a Forgotten Giant". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Gazetas 2008, p. 246.
- ^ Wakeman 1988, p. 65.
- ^ Cameron & Wood 1971, p. 105.
- ^ "Berlinale 1961: Prize Winners". Berlinale. Retrieved 23 January 2010.
- ISBN 978-3-88842-044-3.
- ^ Chatman 1985, pp. 176–81.
- ^ "Technically Sweet, Curated by Yvette Brackman and Maria Finn". Participant Inc. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
- ^ "Sweet Ruin". Criterion Channel. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
- ^ Hopewell, John (2 March 2021). "Michelangelo Antonioni Screenplay To Be Finally Shot by Gullane, Similar, Andre Ristum". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
- ^ ISBN 9781760462499.
- ^ Eco & Leefeldt 1977, pp. 8–12.
- ^ Wenders 2000, p. 79.
- ^ Johnston, Ian (1 August 2006). "We're Not Happy and We Never Will Be". Bright Lights Film Journal. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (8 April 2005). "Eros". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
- ISBN 3-8228-3089-5
- ^ a b Brody, Richard. "Michelangelo Antonioni at 100". The New Yorker. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ a b Wexman 2006, p. 312.
- ^ Grant 2007, p. 47.
- ^ "Antonioni's Coldly Luminous Vision". The New Yorker. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ Samuels, Charles Thomas (29 July 1969). "Interview with Michelangelo Antonioni in Rome". Euro Screenwriters. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ a b Barthes, Roland (October 1980). "Caro Antonioni". Cahiers du Cinéma. 311.
- ^ "Michelangelo Antonioni: stately cinematic master or pretentious bore?". The Guardian. 25 August 2015.
- ^ Kurosawa 1982, p. 242.
- ^ Ciment 2003, p. 34.
- ^ Bogdanovich 1992, pp. 103–104.
- ^ "From Acting to Directing, Cigars to Jazz, Actor Peter Weller Is a Man of Many Passions". Cigar Aficionado. 1 March 1996. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-306-80834-0.
- ISBN 978-0-07-338613-3.
- Cameron, Ian Alexander; Wood, Robin (1971). Antonioni. New York: Praeger.
- Chatman, Seymour (1985). Antonioni: The Surface of the World. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-05341-0.
- ISBN 978-0-571-21108-1.
- Cook, David A. (2004). A History of Narrative Film. New York: Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-97868-1.
- Eco, Umberto; Leefeldt, Christina (1977). De Interpretatione, or the Difficulty of Being Marco Polo. Film Quarterly 30.4: Special Book Issue: 8-12.
- Gazetas, Aristides (2008). An Introduction to World Cinema (Second ed.). Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3907-2.
- Grant, Barry Keith (2007). Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film, Vol 4. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale. ISBN 978-0-02-865795-0.
- Kurosawa, Akira (1982). Something Like an Autobiography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-394-50938-9.
- Tassone, Aldo (2002). I film di Michelangelo Antonioni: un poeta della visione. Milan: Gremese Editore. ISBN 978-88-8440-197-7.
- Wakeman, John, ed. (1988). World Film Directors: Volume Two, 1945–1985. New York: H.W. Wilson. ISBN 978-0-8242-0763-2.
- ISBN 978-0-571-20076-4.
- Wexman, Virginia Wright (2006). A History of Film. Boston: Pearson. ISBN 978-0-205-62528-4.
Further reading
- Antonioni, Michelangelo (1963). Screenplays of Michelangelo Antonioni. New York: Orion Press.
- Arrowsmith, William (1995). Ted Perry (ed.). Antonioni: The Poet of Images. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-509270-7.
- Brunette, Peter (1998). The Films of Michelangelo Antonioni. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-38992-1.
- Chatman, Seymour (2008). Michelangelo Antonioni: The Complete Films. Köln: Taschen. ISBN 978-3-8228-3030-7.
- Lyons, Robert Joseph (1976). Michelangelo Antonioni's Neo-Realism: A World View. Dissertation on Film. North Stratford, NH: Ayer Company Publishers. ISBN 978-0-405-07618-3.
- ISBN 978-0-520-25870-9.
- Samuels, Charles Thomas (1972). Encountering Directors. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 978-0-306-80286-7.
External links
- Michelangelo Antonioni at IMDb
- Michelangelo Antonioni at the TCM Movie Database
- Michelangelo Antonioni at AllMovie
- Michelangelo Antonioni Antonioni writings and interviews
- Michelangelo Antonioni Bibliography in the University of California, Berkeley Library
- Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange pays homage to Antonioni on YouTube