BEYOND THE CLOUDS  (1994)

 Told from the dreamlike perspective of a wandering film director, the movie weaves four stories of love and
lust, inspired by Antonioni's writings about enigmatic, unrequited or unresolved relationships. Set in several
beautiful European locales such as Portofino and Paris, the film uses striking compositions, sensuous shots of
lovely nudes and a moving musical score (featuring Van Morrison, U2 and Brian Eno) to create a radiant
meditation on love and desire. The film is co-directed by Wim Wenders (Buena Vista Social Club, Wings of
Desire) and boasts an eclectic international cast including John Malkovich, Sophie Marceau, Irene Jacob,
Jean Reno, Peter Weller, and Vincent Perez.    (1:50)  (A)   LETTERBOXED

BLOW-UP (1966)

Antonioni's first English-language production was also his only box office hit, widely considered one of the
seminal films of the 1960s. Thomas (David Hemmings) is a nihilistic, wealthy fashion photographer in mod
"Swinging London." Filled with ennui, bored with his "fab" but oddly-lifeless existence of casual sex and
drug use, Thomas comes alive when he wanders through a park, stops to take pictures of a couple embracing,
and upon developing the images, believes that he has photographed a murder. Pursued by Jane (Vanessa
Redgrave), the woman who is in the photos, Thomas pretends to give her the pictures, but in reality, he
passes off a different roll of film to her. Thomas returns to the park and discovers that there is, indeed, a
dead body lying in the shrubbery: the gray-haired man who was embracing Jane. Has she murdered him,
or does Thomas' photo reveal a man with a gun hiding nearby? Antonioni's thriller is a puzzling, existential,
adroitly-assembled masterpiece. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

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TEASER TRAILER

YARDBIRDS

L'AVVENTURA (1960)

Film classics come and go, depending on the mood of the times, but true film masterworks that shatter
narrative conventions are few and far between. It doesn't say much for the development of film narrative
in the last forty-plus years that Michelangelo Antonioni's 1960 film L' Avventura still appears like the
vanguard of a revolutionary movement. Antonioni's notion of isolating and distancing his characters from
both filmic and narrative space through his widescreen vistas of the Lipari Islands and enveloping architectural
edifices is pure melding of form and content. Pauline Kael has referred to the film as "the poetry of moral and
spiritual poverty." The film, at 143 minutes, is not an easy film to watch, nor was it meant to be. Antonioni
assumes that his viewers will intellectually work with the film and come to their own conclusions; Antonioni
prefers not to spoon-feed his audience meaning. Needless to say, it is very rare these days for a director
to believe in the intelligence of his audience. L' Avventura is that rare occasion when a film, rather than
reruns of "Seinfeld," can become the basis for a discussion of art and the human condition.  ~ MediaScreen

(2:23)  (A) - OP   LETTERBOXED

LA NOTTE (1961)

The middle film of Antonioni’s celebrated trilogy (L’Avventura, L’eclisse) is a key work of modernist
cinema, exploring the alienation of the Milanese bourgeoisie within the landscape of the city and the lavish
villas of its periphery. The film follows a couple - Mastroianni, as an exhausted novelist coasting on his
reputation, and Moreau, as is disenchanted wife -from an afternoon visit to a dying friend in a hospital,
through a book launching party at the home of an industrialist, to their separate nocturnal forays.

(2:02)  (B) - OP

RED DESERT (1964)

Red Desert once more combines the considerable talents of Antonioni and star Monica Vitti.
Cast as Giuliana, an unhappy wife, Vitti suffers from an unnamed form of depression and malaise.
Her quicksilver emotional shifts disturb everyone around her, but they, like she, pretend that nothing
is truly wrong. British engineer Corrado Zeller (Richard Harris) seems to understand what Giuliana
is really after in life, and he acts upon it by entering into an affair with the troubled woman. Giuliana
eventually comes to terms with her physical and mental pain, but this hardly means that she's "cured" in
the conventional sense. Monica Vitti's sense of isolation is heightened by Antonioni's (and cinematographer
Carlo DiPalma's) choice of colors, and especially by Carlo Savina's bizarre electronic musical score.  This
is a landmark movie in Antonioni's effort to portray alienated individuals in contemporary life; he places
people against towering forms of technology to emphasize their smallness and lostness in the modern
world of technological change.  - ForeignFilms.com

(1:56)  (B) - OP

TO MAKE A FILM IS TO BE ALIVE (1999)

Michelangelo Antonioni was one of the most acclaimed and controversial filmmakers in the
Italian cinema, with a career that had spanned five decades, before he suffered a severe stroke
in 1985.  The stroke seemingly put an end to his career as a director, but in 1995, noted German
auteur Wim Wenders stepped forward to help Antonioni make his first film in 11 years, Par-Dela
Les Nuages (also known as Beyond the Clouds). Enrica Antonioni, the director's daughter, created
this documentary that examines how Wenders and Antonioni crafted this unusual film; To Make a
Film features behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew who discuss
the production of this landmark of international cinema.
 ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide (1:00)  (A) - OP

ZABRISKIE POINT (1970)

Antonioni's only American film, is an unusual, visually stunning examination of youthful rebellion
against the Establishment. The film, initially presented in quasi-documentary style, presents a group
of college activists discussing key issues of their political agenda. Mark (Mark Frechette) steals an
airplane and flies over a desert where he meets Daria (Daria Halprin). She is the pot-smoking secretary
to businessman Lee Allen (Rod Taylor), while he is a rebel searching for a worthy cause. In the midst
of the arid surroundings, Mark and Daria fall in love.   Antonioni's nonrealistic approach to American
counterculture myths and his loose and sluggish narrative slow the film, and the uneven dialogue (credited
to Fred Gardner, Sam Shepard, Tonino Guerra, Clare Peploe, and Antonioni) caused it to be poorly received
when it was first released.   However, Antonioni's handling of compositions and moods is haunting, and the
score -- featuring songs from Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Kaleidoscope, The Rolling Stones, John
Fahey, The Youngbloods and Patti Page -- as well as the beautiful apocalyptic finale, overcomes those
flaws and makes Zabriskie Point well worth seeing. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

(1:55)  (A) - OP   LETTERBOXED

PINK FLOYD FINALE