Michelangelo Antonioni

A legend of filmmaking, no less, Michelangelo Antonioni challenged moviegoers, raising the questions that would never be answered, holding his shots long to portray a world of self-destructive characters. He might be most widely known for ‘Blowup’, a 1966 drama set in London that became filmmaker’s greatest commercial success. The film was a sensation at the time and is still praised in the artistic circles.

But, perhaps, Antonioni’s true, lasting contribution to cinema is his trilogy—‘L’Avventura’, ‘La Notte’, and ‘L’Eclisse’ which sinks the viewers into the filmmaker’s tormented central vision that people had become emotionally detached from one another. Quite ironic, considering that since 1960s we undeniably progressed down that line, becoming more alone with every new medium, which is supposed to bring us closer. But even more ironic is the fact, that this movie premiere at Cannes Film Festival was booed so ferociously, that Monica Vitti, the star of the film burst into tears.

So yes, Michelangelo Antonioni was a rule breaker, and one of the directors who proves how being disapproved at Cannes can mean you are doing something significant. And it was—not only the influential filmmakers and critics issued a statement of praise the next morning, expressing the exceptional importance of the film, the picture went on to win the festival’s Special Jury Prize and later became an international box-office hit. The next year L’Avventura was named as the second greatest film ever made, by the poll of 70 leading critics from around the world, held by authoritative magazine Sight and Sound.

Antonioni, who died at the age of 94 in 2007 working almost until the very end, has gifted the world with other extraordinary pieces such as “Red Desert’, ‘Zabriskie Point’ and more.

This May Shanghai cinephiles have an opportunity to discover closer the heritage of the great filmmaker with a series of event at Shanghai Film Museum. If you missed the lecture Antonioni, the search of absolute image given by Mario Canale, you can still catch the screenings of iconic films that will go on until May 29th.

说起电影界的传奇人物，一定少不了米开朗琪罗·安东尼奥(Michelangelo Antoniono)这个名字，他总是通过镜头，让人们审视自我。他最为人熟知的作品当属‘春光乍泄’(Blowup)，这个描述了1966年的伦敦的作品，成为了电影制片在商业电影中最大的成功突破。这部电影在当时引起了不小的轰动，同时在艺术界也颇受好评。

但是安东尼奥尼真正在电影界站稳脚跟的是他的影院三部曲：‘情事’（L‘Avventura）, '夜' (La Notte) '蚀' (L'Eclisse)，这三部作品让人们开始重视电影带给他们的娱乐生活，同时也开始追求每个人的独立思考。讽刺的是，从20世纪60年代以来，电影行业每况愈下，更多的新媒介又层出不穷。更为讽刺的是，这部作品在戛纳电影节的首映后群众的唏嘘声不绝于耳，让很多电影明星感到失望。

但是不得不承认，米开朗琪罗·安东尼奥开创了新的时代。他的作品，不仅影响了很多电影工作者和评论家，更是突出了电影的重要地位，电影更是获得了电影节的评审团特别奖，之后在国际票房中大卖。之后的作品不断地掀起全世界的追捧和热爱，被称为是一场视觉盛宴。

94岁的他，在2007年离世，他几乎一直工作到他生命的尽头，为这个世界留下了很多特殊的值得纪念的作品，如‘红色沙漠‘(Red Desert) ，’扎布里斯基角(Zabriskie Point)等。

上海影迷在今年五月有机会在上海电影博物馆近距离接触这位伟大的电影制片人，以及他的作品。如果你错过了Mario Canale的展出，仍可以抓住机会去观看安东尼奥的电影代表作，此次上映将持续到5月29日。

Antonioni's Retrospective Opening at Shanghai Film Museum