Nothing like a little disaster for sorting things out. “Blowup” (1966)

directed by Michelangelo Antonioni

There are those films that I wish I didn’t have to write much about because the more you write the worse. And you know what? I’m the one deciding how long my recommendations are and my decision is to write very little about “Blowup”. If you have seen the film, you already know why. If you haven’t, you can thank me later. Perhaps much later because for some of you watching this production once won’t be enough. This isn’t a simple story where a guy meets a girl, they fall in love, have some issues but in the end everything become an overly sweet rainbow of passion and happiness. I will try to explain what’s happening there as easily as I can. The main character is Thomas (David Hemmings) who works as a very prestigious fashion photographer. Women beg him to photograph them. At the beginning we see Thomas in action, doing his job and showing off what a talented artist he is. Later some things happen, but eventually he ends up in Maryon Park, just walking around and observing. He spots a couple, a woman and a man, and decides to sneak a little closer to take a few shots of them. The woman (Vanessa Redgrave) notices Thomas and runs towards him to later ask for the film. She even offers to buy it from the photographer, but he refuses. At some point Thomas will look at the photographs from the park and start noticing something disturbing. There are not two, but three people in them. And one of them has some sort of a gun in his hands. Doom doom doom. No, this isn’t another murder story with some twists and a fairly predictable ending. You may keep asking yourselves “What’s going on here?”, even after watching the final scene. I loved what awaits at the end, I think it’s a marvellous part, but I needed a longer moment to analyse why it’s all connected. And it is, so don’t give up, watch it till the end, don’t sleep for some nights, rewatch it and then appreciate the beauty of this film. No matter what’s happening on the screen, you should enjoy watching it either way because of the camerawork which is outstanding. I wish more artists played with camera and editing as much as they did in Blowup. Want to know how to make a visually attractive piece? Voilà. And I guess my post isn’t that short after all. Apparently, not everything has to be as it’s thought *wink wink*.

My rating: 7/10
S.