Cinema
Blow-Up
Michelangelo Antonioni · 1966
Synopsis
London, in the mid-1960s. Thomas, a fashionable fashion photographer, is also preparing a book of photographs taken in the street. In a park, he captures, unseen, a pair of lovers. The young woman, Jane, catches up with him to demand the film, then comes after him at his home. As he enlarges the prints more and more, he thinks he can make out, in the foliage, a man holding a pistol.
Context
The director's first film made entirely in English, it was shot in London, with the park scenes filmed at Maryon Park, in the Charlton district. The screenplay, written with Tonino Guerra and Edward Bond, is based on a short story by the Argentine writer Julio Cortázar, “Las babas del diablo”. Produced by Carlo Ponti and distributed by MGM, it was released in the United States in December 1966 without the approval of the industry's production code. Its critical and commercial success contributed to the abandonment of that code, which was replaced by an age-based rating system.
Who it is for
An enigma film in English, nearly two hours long, which questions what an image shows rather than resolving the investigation it sets up.
Prizes and reception
Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1967; two Oscar nominations, for direction and for original screenplay.
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