Michelangelo Antonioni

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L’avventura (1960) ranks as a turning point in the history of film and the start of modern cinema. The director succeeded in translating the sense of malaise among the affluent middle class into oppressive images. It was deemed outrageous that, during a boat trip right at the start of L’avventura, the celebrated actress Lea Massari was made to disappear from the story. The film received fierce criticism at its premiere in Cannes, where leading actress Monica Vitti left the screening in tears. Nonetheless — after a campaign of support from fellow directors who immediately recognized the importance of the film – the film still won the jury prize.

After Il deserto rosso (1964), unhappy with the political climate and mood of lethargy in his home country, the director left Italy to make films abroad. He was nominated for Oscars for Best Director and Scenario for his box-office hit Blow-up (1966). Set in Swinging London, the film is about a paranoid fashion photographer and the impossibility of knowing the truth, with music by The Yardbirds and Herbie Hancock. He then left for the United States, where he made Zabriskie Point (1970), a sociocritical film shot in the Death Valley desert with a soundtrack that included Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones. Both films are powerful portraits of their time, effectively capturing the emerging pop culture and social dissatisfaction of the era. Antonioni went on to direct the sensual Identificazione di una donna (1982, Golden Palm nomination) and Al di là delle nuvole (1995, co-directed by Wim Wenders).

About the exhibition

Michelangelo Antonioni – Il maestro del cinema moderno presented a selection of the many private documents preserved by the Gallerie d'arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Museo Michelangelo Antonioni di Ferrara. The exhibition offered insight into his work and showed how Antonioni changed the language of film for good.

The exhibition contained film excerpts, photographs taken on sets by Bruce Davidson (Magnum) among others, press articles, original scenarios and letters (by Alain Delon, Italo Calvino, Marcello Mastroianni, Jeanne Moreau, Roland Barthes, Luchino Visconti, Umberto Eco, Giorgio Morandi and more). Also on display were paintings by Antonioni as well as excerpts from early Antonioni documentaries – Gente del Po and N.U. - Nettezza Urbana – and the documentary made by Antonioni in 1972 at the invitation of the Chinese Communist Party.

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About the artist

Michelangelo Antonioni (1912-2007) started his career during the Second World War when he co-wrote scenarios for Roberto Rossellini and worked as an assistant director for Marcel Carné. In 1951 he made his directing debut with the film noir Cronaca di un amore. He later shifted from realistic representation to a more philosophical style. Antonioni probed the human soul and did it in a totally innovative manner.

With the trilogy L’avventura (1960), La notte (1961) and L’eclisse (1962), followed by Blow-up (1966) and Professione: reporter (1975, with Jack Nicholson), Antonioni reinforced his position as a prominent director. In Il deserto rosso (1964), his first film in colour and set in the industrial, misty landscape of the Po Valley, he even added paint to lawns and trees to intensify the colours. He later received an Honorary Oscar for his entire body of work.

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Video registration Marlene Dumas Goes to the Movies

Parallel to the retrospective exhibition Marlene Dumas – The Image as Burden (Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Tate Modern in London), artist Marlene Dumas went to the movies in Eye. She selected scenes from films that have influenced her life and work and presented them in thematic evenings, among them Antonioni's La notte.