Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.
Michaelangelo Antonioni is a name that regarded as a powerful influence in cinema for his take on neo-realism with such early 1960s films as L'Aventurra, La Notte, L'Eclisse, and Il Deserto Rosso. Those four films helped changed the face of not just Italian cinema in its era of neo-realism but cinema itself as Antonioni was becoming one of the prominent figures of European cinema. After those four films, Antonioni decided to challenge himself by trying to make a film in English but without the distraction of Hollywood. In the mid-60s in England, it was a time of swing and wild parties as Antonioni decided to capture that scene through a short story from Julio Cortazar that is about a photographer trying to uncover a mystery entitled Blow-Up.
Written into script by Antonioni and Tonino Guerra with English dialogue written by Edward Bond, Blow-Up is part look into the mid-1960s Swinging London scene with a bit of mystery in the middle. The film revolves around a bored photographer who finds himself getting into more than he bargains for when he accidentally photographs a murder throughout an entire day of investigation and intrigue. Starring the late David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, Veruschka Jane Birkin, Gillian Hills, Peter Bowles, John Castle, and the Yardbirds. Blow-Up is a wonderfully stylish, intricate thriller that keeps the audience guessing from one of Europe's most seminal directors.
It's swinging in London as a group of mimes roam around London as a fashion photographer named Thomas (David Hemmings) looks around. He drives through the city while communicating with his receptionist (Tsai Chin) about returning to his studio. He does so to shoot a model (Veruschka) that becomes inspiring at first until he takes a break and meets with his neighbor/girlfriend Patricia (Sarah Miles) as he looks around at the paintings of another neighbor (John Castle) which he wasn't impressed by. The morning doesn't get any better for Thomas as the shoot with other models becomes uninspiring. He takes a break as he goes out and seeks for inspiration.
After stopping at an antique shop where he annoys the shopkeeper (Harry Hutchinson), he takes a walk around the park where in its quiet atmosphere, he sees two people walking around. Thomas does nothing but shoot everything he can capture until the woman Jane (Vanessa Redgrave) notices as she runs after him to demand the photos. Thomas agrees to give them to her when he's finished with them but suddenly, Jane's lover (Ronan O'Casey) has disappeared as she runs to look for him while Thomas keeps shooting. He returns to the antique shop where he meets the owner (Susan Broderick) and buys an old airplane propeller.
After stopping for a brief lunch with his agent Ron (Peter Bowles), he notices that someone had been watching him as he returns to the studio to look at the photos he took in the park. Hearing the door bell buzzing, it's Jane who arrives to collect her photographs. Thomas hasn't gotten into working on them but he notices that Jane has a finesse and beauty that most models seem to lack as he's a bit smitten by her. After a bit of drinking and smoking, Jane seduces him to try and get the photos but Thomas isn't fooled as he decides to give a roll of film as she leaves.
Thomas has kept the roll of film from the park that he shot so he can look at them. What he finds is something far more. Using his skills in developing photos, he expands them to see what he finds and he's become more and more intrigued. He is then interrupted by two young girls (Jane Birkin and Gillian Hills), who came by earlier to audition to be his models as they end up in some little game of sex. Thomas then begins to notice the photos again as he finds things that link to a possible murder. He returns to the park for the scene of the crime and finds a corpse. He returns home to find Patricia having sex with the painter and his photos disappearing. He calls for Ron as he wants him to look at it.
Thomas drives around through London to meet Ron only to find Jane walking into an empty street as he tries to find her, only to get inside a rock club where the Yardbirds are playing. He escapes the club to meet Ron at a party where he's trying to tell him something but fails as Thomas begins to question his own morals and the lifestyle he's surrounded by.
While the Swinging London era proves to be a fascinating backdrop for a story that builds up into a fascinating mystery. Antonioni and his writers present a story that is really about a young man who is living in a lifestyle of decadence who finds himself back in reality only to find himself more confused about his role in life where everything becomes surreal. The story also carried a momentum that builds up from the first half the story that is merely a look into a certain time captured at that particular moment to the second half that becomes a wonderful mystery. Part of that genius is in the writing and the way Antonioni plays with structure.
On the directing front, the film definitely moves with style as Antonioni finds himself in the right place, right time where London was definitely swinging. The film has a look that is very distinct. Especially in the camera movements in which Antonioni uses the images and characters to tell the story. There are several moments in the film that pushes the boundaries of art. From its park scenes where there is very little sound but the wind, the final scene in the end that really blurs the perception of reality, to even the moment of mimes roaming around London.
Another that should be noted that since this was made in the 1960s, this was reportedly the first major British film to feature female full-frontal nudity which at that time, was scandalous. Antonioni doesn't bother with that idea since we only see Jane Birkin's bush for about two seconds. It was at that time, if you wanted to see some skin, you had to go watch European films and sex sells. Antonioni knew what the audience wanted and more along the way.
Helping Antonioni in the visual department is his longtime cinematographer Carlo di Palma who captures the time with some of the best Technicolor photography that in a widescreen format, looks amazing. Especially in the park scenes the look of the film is gorgeous. Also capturing the entire fashion scene of London is art director Assheton Gordon who definitely capture the look of the studio including one photo shoot where five women are standing behind each other which is an incredible shot. The costumes in the film by Jocelyn Rickards are definitely glamorous for the times that are very sexy and very cool to look at. The film in its 102-minute time limit with Frank Clarke's editing is also done in style from the jump-cut sequences of Thomas driving to the back-and-forth cutting style of Thomas looking at each photograph that has a wonderful rhythm to the film.
Then there's the film's music which is dominated mostly by a wonderfully hip, catchy jazz score from Herbie Hancock. It plays well to the times and it's a nice alternative since it would've been more predictable to play a lot of the music that was going on during the British Invasion. This should also be noted that the music at the time was way before London got really swinging into psychedelia with the Beatles' Sgt. Peppers album and the debut of Pink Floyd. Another piece of music that will certainly interest rock fans is a performance scene from the British blues band the Yardbirds. The performance which then included future guitar legends Jeff Beck and a young pre-Led Zeppelin Jimmy Page with the band playing Stroll On, a version of the blues classic Train Kept A Rollin'. It's one of the most memorable performance, notably for Jeff Beck's frustration with static on his amps and stuff.
The casting of the film is very small since many of the actors aren't really given much to do except for Hemmings and Redgrave. John Castle and Sarah Miles give memorable performances as Thomas' neighbors, notably Miles in a scene when his pictures are gone. The model Veruschka is more memorable for her appearance modeling and in the party scene. Smaller performances from Tsai Chin, Susan Broderick, Harry Hutchinson, and Ronan O'Casey as the corpse are memorable. Peter Bowles is wonderful as Thomas' decadent agent. Also memorable for one scene are Gillian Hills and Jane Birkin for their menage-a-trois with David Hemmings. Those who are familiar with European pop culture will know Birkin for her charity work, her acting, and most of all, her music, notably with ex-husband Serge Gainsbourg. Many Americans would know Birkin for being known as the creator of the Birkin Bag which was shown excessively on the TV show Sex & the City.
Vanessa Redgrave gives one of her most alluring performances as the mysterious Jane who seems to have some sort of agenda that we don't really know about. Redgrave commands her performances with a discipline and with intimidation when she shows some skin. Though she doesn't show any kind of nudity, what she shows is a turn-on in itself and it's certainly memorable for all the right reasons. The late David Hemmings is wonderful as the conflicted and passionate Thomas who definitely brings a troubled humanity to his role as an artist who isn't sure what to do while dealing with his own perception of reality. While Hemmings went on to do other films in the future, it's his performance in this film that he's most remembered for and it's certainly one of the most iconic of 1960s European cinema.
When Blow-Up was released in 1966, the film was considered scandalous by MGM, who was producing the film because of its behaviors, sexual content, and subject matter. Since Antonioni was one of the few directors at that time who had final cut, the film did get a distribution from MGM though they didn't want to be a part of the film. Still, Blow-Up was a massive success in the art-house circuit while winning the Palme D'or at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival as it remains Antonioni's most commercially successful film to date. While he has continued to make films, more recently a segment for the film Eros with Steven Soderbergh and Wong Kar-Wai, Blow-Up was considered to be the last great masterpiece of his career.
Yet the influence of Blow-Up would remain powerful as many films would references its look and intrigue, notably Jay Roach's Austin Powers series that used its look to serve as a backdrop for the comedic spy character. Two other filmmakers, who saw Blow-Up at the time of its release would create separate homages to the film. One was Francis Ford Coppola who paid tribute to the film with his 1974 Palme D'or-award winning masterpiece The Conversation that used sound instead of images to convey the mystery. The other was Brian de Palma who helmed the 1981 cult classic Blow Out with John Travolta and John Lithgow that not paid tribute to Antonioni but added a Hitchcock flair and style that at the time was too strange for a commercial audience though it's now considered to be one of de Palma's best films.
Nearly 40 years since the release of this influential, landmark film, Blow-Up is one of the finest yet excessive films of the 1960s thanks to the vision of Michaelangelo Antonioni. Anyone who is interested in what swinging London was like will get a very good idea through film and Carlo di Palma's absorbing cinematography. With a wonderful cast led by David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave, this is one film that will certainly keep you interested with a bit of shock value. As far as Antonioni is concerned, this is a good introduction though his earlier films from the 1960s seem to convey more of what he really is a director. Still, Blow-Up is a film that must not be missed.
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