Blowup (1966)

Directed by: Michelangelo Antonioni
Starring: David Hemmings

***

If you've ever seen a Michelangelo Antonioni film then you most likely know what happens in Blowup... nothing. Unlike, L'avventura, another Antonioni film I've seen which is much more acclaimed, Blowup makes a little something out of its nothingness and creates a decently interesting story.

The best way to describe the story of Blowup would be a photographer (Hemmings) inadvertently photographs evidence of a murder. The best way to critique the story of Blowup would be to say that it could very possibly have been the greatest short film every made... unfortunately its a feature filled with Antonioni-style nothingness. To elaborate, the story of the inadvertant witness to a crime is a popular subject and an easy one for short film makers so the story alone may not have made the greatest short ever but if you combine that story with some of the master filmmaking that goes on in this film, that is what you'd have.

Antonioni's mastery extends beyond the plot of this film. As I've mentioned, the majority of the feature is made up of scenes where very little is happening, however thanks to the way Antonioni uses the surroundings of the scene to create some interesting (for lack of a better term) imagery, you at least feel like you're admiring some artwork, if not a narrative film.

In addition to the filmmaking, David Hemming needed to and does carry this film. He plays Thomas who is somewhat of a womanizing fashion photographer who tends to get so frustrated with the women he has to work with that he runs off to spend time photographing on his own. Its then when he encounters Jane (Vanessa Redgrave) who suggests Thomas may have photographed something he shouldn't see by the way she behaves. She appears to be willing to do anything to get her hands on those photographs... Thomas lets her prove what she'll do for them (wink, wink).

The only way to really appreciate Blowup is to step away from it and to recognize that the sole purpose of the film is not to present and solve the mystery surrounding the photos that Thomas has. While the story plays out very realistically, its the style of filmmaking surrounding it that makes it work. The question is, was it all necessary? And to be honest, it really wasn't. There is too much fuff (again, lack of a better term). The way the "story" aspect of this film is presented is very, very intriguing. It unfolds at a perfect pace, even if it is slow. Take out everything else and you've got the greatest short film ever made.