Blow-Up

BLOW-UP (18)

D: Michelangelo Antonioni

Bridge Films (Carlo Ponti)

UK/Italy 🇬🇧 🇮🇹 1966

111 mins

Mystery/Thriller

W: Michelangelo Antonioni, Tonino Guerra & Edward Bond

DP: Carlo di Palma

Ed: Frank Clarke

Mus: Herbie Hancock

PD: Assheton Gorton

Cos: Jocelyn Richards

David Hemmings (Thomas), Vanessa Redgrave (Jane), Sarah Miles (Patricia), Peter Bowles (Ron)

Not many films capture the swinging sixties of London quite the way Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 thriller does, though the plot of the film is far from being about the culture of the time, but rather a mysterious drama about the power of perception.

Professional photographer Thomas captures a seemingly innocent romantic moment between a couple in the park and is accosted by the woman (Jane) who demands that he turns the photographs over to her. Later, after developing the pictures, Thomas is convinced that he has captured a crime on film, but events conspire against him as he searches for the truth.

Antonioni's film is full of surrealist touches which make it much more than your standard thriller, including a photoshoot scene which has become an icon of popular culture. The more adult scenes of the film pushed the boundaries of the production code, which existed at the time and was abolished shortly after.

Looking back at it from a modern standpoint, some will wonder what all the fuss was about, but it still can't be denied that this was one of the most commercially successful art films made during the decade and still remains one of the most influential films of the 1960's.

8/10