A friend of mine once said, "All movies end one of three ways. Somebody gets married. Somebody dies. Or mimes playing tennis."
Cinemas
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Blow-Up
An atmospheric, acclaimed drama.
Drama
Mystery
Thriller
1966
1h 51m
A successful mod photographer in London whose world is bounded by fashion, pop music, marijuana, and easy sex, feels his life is boring and despairing. But in the course of a single day he unknowingly captures a death on film.
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Cast & crew
6What people say
By the middle of the 1960s it was undeniable that the baby-boomers were on the rise and the World War II generation was on the decline. While many in the older generation responded to this phenomenon with fear and aggression, others found it fascinating. Having already completed a trilogy of films (L'avventura, La Notte and L'eclisse) in effort to understand his own generation's ennui, 54 year-old Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni decided it was now time to see what gave the younger generation angst. The resultant film Blow-Up, is a beautiful synthesis of plot and theme. The character of Thomas has a hole inside himself which he desperately wants to fill. He tries with women, he tries with antiques, he tries with smashed guitars. At first-blush, each of these seems to be the answer to his prayers. Yet on closer inspection, they're just diversions. The hole is still there. The hole will always be there. Happiness can only be found by sticking close to the surface. If you choose to go deeper and keep blowing-up the photo of life, it will all eventually become just meaningless noise and emptiness. If you want to play the game, you have to buy in and live the lie.
What a waste of a great idea. If you decide to watch this, you can skip the first half-hour as all that happens is he's a photographer and something of a jerk. Finally, half-hour in he takes the photos that play in the plot. Then a bunch of nothing happens, then finally he develops the film and it's a great scene as he figures out just what he took pictures of. At 1 hour 34 minutes, we get to see The Yardbirds with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. 1/2 star for the "blow-up" scene, and one star for The Yardbirds.
Common questions
What is Blow-Up about?+
A jaded fashion photographer in London realizes he may have inadvertently captured a murder on film while roaming the city.
Who directed Blow-Up?+
Michelangelo Antonioni directed this 1966 mystery, widely considered a staple of 1960s art cinema.
Does the film provide a clear resolution?+
The film is intentionally ambiguous, prioritizing existential themes and the nature of perception over a traditional murder mystery conclusion.
