Blowup (1966)

Director:

Michelangelo Antonioni

Writers:

Michelangelo Antonioni (story)
Julio Cortázar (short story)

Release Date:

18 December 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Michelangelo Antonioni's first British film

Plot:

A mod London photographer believes that he has photographed a murder.

Plot Keywords:

Photographer | Murder | Fashion | Mod | Darkroom

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Vanessa Redgrave	...	Jane
Sarah Miles	...	Patricia
David Hemmings	...	Thomas
John Castle	...	Bill
Jane Birkin	...	The Blonde
Gillian Hills	...	The Brunette
Peter Bowles	...	Ron
Veruschka von Lehndorff	...	Herself (as Verushka)
Julian Chagrin	...	Mime
Claude Chagrin	...	Mime

Also Known As:

Blow-Up (Italy) (USA)
Blow Up (UK) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

UK | Italy | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A (video rating) | USA:Not Rated (video rating) | Singapore:NC-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | UK:X (original rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Italy:VM14 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) | Germany:16 (re-rating) | West Germany:18 (original rating) (w) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2005) | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Chelsea, London, England, UK

Company:

Bridge Films

Trivia:

A silver jacketed Janet Street-Porter can be seen wearing red/yellow striped PVC trousers and dancing to the Yardbirds during the club scene.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jane and Thomas are discussing the photographic film in Thomas's house, there is a pillow with the number three on it propped up vertically against the back of a couch. A little later, this pillow has moved to the top of the back of the couch at the point where the arm meets it and no one has touched it.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mime: Give me your money. Do it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Aleja gówniarzy (2007)

Soundtrack:

Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?

Success and image; fantasy and reality (SPOILERS)

Antonioni's Blow-Up was the biggest hit of the Italian director's career, the superficial elements of the fashion world, Swinging London and orgies on purple paper ensuring its commercial success.

Models such as Veruschka (who appears in the film), Twiggy and fashion photographers at the time have complained about its unrealistic depiction of the industry and claimed that its central character, Thomas (played by the late David Hemmings) was clearly based on David Bailey.

To look at Blow-Up as an analysis of the fashion business in the Sixties is to misunderstand the film's intentions. In any case, when watching this film it may be difficult to tell what its all about if you're unfamiliar with Antonioni's films but it obviously has little to do with the fashion world which is merely the setting for the story and nothing more.

Antonioni made the clearest statement of his motivation as a filmmaker at the end of Beyond the Clouds when he talked about his belief that reality is unattainable as it is submerged by layers of images which are only versions of reality.

This is a rather pretentious way of saying that everyone perceives reality in their own way and ultimately see only what they want to see.

With this philosophy in mind, Blow-Up is probably Antonioni's most personal film.

Thomas' hollow, self-obsessed world is shattered when he discovers that he may have photographed a murder when casually taking pictures in a park. He encounters a mysterious woman, Jane (Vanessa Redgrave) who demands he hand over the film and when he refuses she appears at his studio, although Thomas never told her his address.

When the evidence disappears shortly afterwards, Blow-Up seems to deal in riddles that have no solution. Redgrave re-appears and then vanishes before the photographer's eyes, Thomas returns to the park without his camera and sees the body. The film concludes with Thomas, having discovered the body has disappeared, watching a group of mimes playing tennis without a ball or rackets in the park where the murder may have taken place.

It is only in the final scene of the film where the riddle is solved. Thomas throws the imaginary ball back into the court and watches the game resume. The look of realisation on his face is all too apparent as the game CAN BE HEARD taking place out of shot.

There is a ball, there are rackets and this is a real game of tennis. What we have seen up until this point is the photographer's perception of reality: the murder, the mysterious woman in the park, the photographic evidence and the body.

The following exchange between Hemmings and Redgrave is the key to the film:

Thomas: Don't let's spoil everything, we've only just met.

Jane: No, we haven't met. You've never seen me.