Michelangelo Antonioni

Director

September 29, 1912 (94 years)

† July 30, 2007

Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Biography

Michelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor, and short story writer. Best known for his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents" — L'Avventura (1960), La Notte (1961), and L'Eclisse (1962), as well as the English-language Blowup (1966), Antonioni "redefined the concept of narrative cinema" and challenged traditional approaches to storytelling, realism, drama, and the world at large. He pro…

Filmography

7.7

L'Eclisse

Vittoria is a beautiful literary translator living in Rome. After splitting from her writer boyfriend, Riccardo, Vittoria meets Piero, a lively stockbroker, on the hectic floor of the Roman stock exchange. Though Vittoria and Piero begin a relationship, it is not one without difficulties, and their commitment to one another is tested during an eclipse.

5.7

Eros

A three-part anthology about love and sexuality: a menage-a-trois between a couple and a young woman on the coast of Tuscany; an advertising executive under enormous pressure at work, who, during visits to his psychiatrist, is pulled to delve into the possible reasons why his stress seems to manifest itself in a recurring erotic dream; a story of unrequited love about a beautiful, 1960s high-end call girl in an impossible affair with her young tailor.

7.3

Blow-Up

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.

7.0

Zabriskie Point

Anthropology student Daria, who's helping a property developer build a village in the Los Angeles desert, and dropout Mark, who's wanted by the authorities for allegedly killing a policeman during a student riot, accidentally encounter each other in Death Valley and soon begin an unrestrained romance.

7.3

Red Desert

In an industrializing Italian town, a married woman, rendered mentally unstable after a traffic accident, drifts into an affair with a friend of her husband.

6.2

Beyond the Clouds

Four tales, each centered on a woman, journey inward to explore the enigmatic reality of their lives, connecting through a single narrative thread.

7.5

L'Avventura

Claudia and Anna join Anna's lover, Sandro, on a boat trip to a remote volcanic island. When Anna goes missing, a search is launched. In the meantime, Sandro and Claudia become involved in a romance despite Anna's disappearance, though the relationship suffers from guilt and tension.

7.9

La Notte

A day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship in Milan.

7.2

The Passenger

David Locke is a world-weary American journalist who has been sent to cover a conflict in northern Africa, but he makes little progress with the story. When he discovers the body of a stranger who looks similar to him, Locke assumes the dead man's identity. However, he soon finds out that the man was an arms dealer, leading Locke into dangerous situations. Aided by a beautiful woman, Locke attempts to avoid both the police and criminals out to get him.

6.8

The Devil's Envoys

At the end of the 15th century, a man and a woman, posing as traveling minstrels, are sent by the Devil to a castle to seduce its inhabitants.

6.4

The Vanquished

Three tales of privileged youth entangled in murder: French students kill for money, an Italian student smuggles cigarettes, and an English poet exploits a grim discovery.

5.7

The Three Faces

Italian comedy film made of three segments directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, Mauro Bolognini and Franco Indovina. First segment: Il Provino; second segment: Gli amanti celebri; third segment: Latin Lover.

4.6

Sign of the Gladiator

Zenobia, Queen of Palmira, revolts against Rome and defeats the Roman troops, but she makes a big mistake when she falls in love with enemy officer Marco Valerio.

7.5

Il Grido

A sugar-refinery worker flees his Northern Italy town after a woman refuses his marriage proposal.

6.5

Chung Kuo-Cina

A documentary on China, concentrating mainly on the faces of the people, filmed in the areas they were allowed to visit. The 220-minute version consists of three parts. The first part, taken around Beijing, includes a cotton factory, older sections of the city, and a clinic where a Caesarean operation is performed using acupuncture. The middle part visits the Red Flag canal and a collective farm in Henan, as well as the old city of Suzhou. The final part shows the port and industries of Shanghai and ends with a stage presentation by Chinese acrobats.

5.9

Identification of a Woman

Movie director Niccolò has just been left by his wife. Subsequently he embarks on an obsessive relationship with a young woman who eventually leaves him and disappears while searching for her, he meets a variety of other willing girls. This gives him the idea of making a movie about women's relationships. He starts to search for a woman who can play the leading part in the movie.

6.7

Story of a Love Affair

A wealthy, possessive husband's investigation reignites his young wife's past love, leading them to plot against him. As obstacles fall away, their passion faces a new test.

6.6

Love in the City

Six vignettes explore love and desire in Rome, from prostitution and heartache to unwed motherhood and the male gaze.

6.7

Le Amiche

Clelia, a self-made woman coming from humble means, travels back to Turin, her hometown, to scout locations for the successful Roman atelier she works for. At the hotel, she encounters some upper middle-class women and she finds herself drawn into their friendships.

6.5

Tempest

A young officer in the army of Empress Catherine of Russia is on his way to his new duty station at a remote outpost. During a blinding snowstorm he comes upon a stranger who was caught in the storm and is near death from freezing. He rescues the man and eventually brings him back to health. When the man is well enough to travel, the two part company and the man vows to repay the officer for saving his life. Soon after he arrives at his new post, a revolt by the local Cossacks breaks out and the fort is besieged by the rebels. The young officer is astonished to find out that the leader of the rebellious Cossacks is none other than the stranger whose life he had saved during the storm.