Today and tomorrow at BAM — one of the great movies about swinging London in the 1960’s made in the 1960’s. You won’t want to miss: Vanessa Redgrave, Veruschka, Jane Birkin and MORE. at BAM…

Blow-Up (1966) 110min

Mon, June 12 & Tue, June 13 at 4:30, 9:15pm

With David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Veruschka, Jane Birkin, and Sarah Miles
"The key movie of the 1960s" (Time Out New York), Blow-Up caused a
sensation with its nudity and portrayal of Swinging London. A modish
photographer discovers what may or may not be a murder in one of his
photographs and tries to solve the mystery himself. Though Blow-Up is a
raucous time capsule of 1960s British culture, its examination of
subjectivity and the power of perception seems even more relevant and
complex now than when it was first released. Presented in a new print
(courtesy of Warner Brothers) for its 40th anniversary! In English.

“Blow-Up is the movie of the year. It is to Antonioni what Lola Montès
was to Ophuls, Ugetsu to Mizoguchi, Contempt to Godard, French Cancan
to Renoir, Limelight to Chaplin, Rear Window to Hitchcock, 8 ½ to
Fellini—a statement of the artist, not on life but on art itself as the
consuming passion of an artist’s life.”—Andrew Sarris

Jun 7 — 29

"Would it be too much to simply say, ‘Go see them all’? This is the
kind of retro that can make filmmakers out of footage collectors, the
enlightened out of the curious. If you always wanted to sample
Antonioni, now’s the time; please don’t try this at home."
—Time Out New York

"Antonioni has given us a body of astonishing cinematic poetry, of
visual compositions in which every element is charged with emotional
and symbolic resonance."
—Stephen Holden, The New York Times

“Antonioni is one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century.”
—Martin Scorsese

One of the few artists credited with creating a new language of cinema,
Michelangelo Antonioni remains enormously influential, yet impossible
to imitate. While many of his Italian contemporaries used Neo-Realism
to address political issues of the day, Antonioni developed a new
approach: one that directly attacked problems within society and human
interactions, while using a supremely confident visual style. Never
content to work on a small canvas, Antonioni explored weighty issues
and set his characters amidst stark and unfeeling landscapes. Yet
central to all his work is a need to see, to understand, and to
interpret the world around him. All films directed by Michelangelo
Antonioni, in Italian with English subtitles, unless otherwise noted.
All new prints courtesy of Cinecittà Holding unless otherwise noted.
Presented with Cinecittà Holding and the support of the Ministry of
Culture of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in New York.

Click here to read the piece in The New York Times about our Antonioni series.

Click here to read the piece in The Village Voice.

Antonioni Shorts (1943—1953) 80min
Mon, Jun 12 at 7pm
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This collection of rare short films features many of his signature
touches, including his use of long, sweeping camera movements.

People of the Po (Gente Del Po)* (1943): This seemingly jinxed
project—part of its footage lost in processing, another part of its
negative destroyed by humidity during the war—follows a barge trip down
the river Po. 9min.

Sanitation Department (Nettezza Urbana)* (1948): Antonioni’s second
film chronicles a day in the life of Roman street sweepers. "Nettezza
Urbana offers a camera movement so strikingly arbitrary to prefigure
Red Desert and The Passenger."—Seymour Chatman. 9min.

Superstition (Superstizione)* (1949): A bizarre and amusing film about
superstition (charms, spells, exorcisms) in the village of Camerino in
the Marches. 9min.

Lies of Love (L’Amorosa Menzogna)* (1949): A satire about "the making
of a fumetto, or photoromance, in a shabby little studio in Rome …
Amusing in a lightly satirical way, it reflects an aspect of Antonioni
that the broad public does not know well.""—Seymour Chatman. 10min.

Vertigine** (1950) 4min.

The Villa of Monsters (La Villa dei Mostri) (1950): Please note: no
English subtitles, print has both French and German subtitles. A study
of the grotesque sculptures that fill the park of the ancient villa of
Bomarzo. 10min.

Seven Reeds, One Suit (Sette Canne Un Vestito)***(1949) 10min.

Suicide Attempt (Tentato Suicidio)**** (1953): In the omnibus film Love
in the City, six Italian directors, including Fellini, Lattuada, and
Antonioni, recreated real-life stories of life and love in Rome. In
Antonioni’s section, which is in many ways a key to understanding his
cinema, Antonioni brought together a group of young women in a film
studio and, instead of having them explain their desire to kill
themselves, asked them to act out the actual attempt. "I sought to
arouse the public’s revulsion against suicide by showing the spiritual
desolation of the characters." 20min.

Blow-Up (1966) 110min
Mon, June 12 & Tue, June 13 at 4:30, 9:15pm

With David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Veruschka, Jane Birkin, and Sarah Miles
"The key movie of the 1960s" (Time Out New York), Blow-Up caused a sensation with its nudity and portrayal of Swinging London. A modish photographer discovers what may or may not be a murder in one of his photographs and tries to solve the mystery himself. Though Blow-Up is a raucous time capsule of 1960s British culture, its examination of subjectivity and the power of perception seems even more relevant and complex now than when it was first released. Presented in a new print (courtesy of Warner Brothers) for its 40th anniversary! In English.

“Blow-Up is the movie of the year. It is to Antonioni what Lola Montès was to Ophuls, Ugetsu to Mizoguchi, Contempt to Godard, French Cancan to Renoir, Limelight to Chaplin, Rear Window to Hitchcock, 8 ½ to Fellini—a statement of the artist, not on life but on art itself as the consuming passion of an artist’s life.”—Andrew Sarris

Antonioni Shorts (1983—2004) 80min
Tue, Jun 13 at 7pm
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Rare shorts from Antonioni’s late period. Many are deceptively simple, yet beautifully shot documentaries.

Ritorno a Lisca Bianca (1983) 10min.

Fotoromanza (1984) 4min.

India-Kumbha Mela (1988) 18min.

Roma (1990) 9min.

Sicilia (1997) 9min.

Lo Sguardo di Michelangelo (2004) 15min.

Noto, Mandorli, Vulcano, Carnevale (1992): A recent project for Antonioni, made in June 1992 for the Italian pavilion at the Seville Expo. This film, as its title suggests, is structured around five different outlooks on Sicily: a return to Noto, one of the places in L’Avventura; an in-depth look at the Stromboli and Vulcano volcanoes; images on an almond tree in bloom on the hills of Noto; and, finally, a look at the carnival of Acireale. 10min.

Chronicle of a Love (Cronaca di un Amore) (1950) 98min
Thu, Jun 15 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:30pm
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With Lucia Bose, Massimo Girotti
Both Luchino Visconti and Antonioni chose the genre of film noir for their first feature film, and both picked actor Massimo Girotti to star, but that is where the similarities end. Where Visconti’s Ossessione was a film noir/Neo-Realist fusion, Antonioni created a sleek, sexy work about a businessman who hires a detective to investigate his wife and her ex-boyfriend, who soon begin conspiring against him. This print has been restored by Azzociazione Philip Morris-Progetto Cinema.

Il Grido (1957) 102min
Fri, Jun 16 at 2, 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
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With Steve Cochran. Alida Valli
One of Antonioni’s most accessible and traditionally Italian films, Il Grido portrays a mechanic who, stunned by his lover’s refusal of marriage, takes to wandering the Po Valley on foot. Rather than just create a travelogue, Antonioni explores the industrialization of rural Italy, and draws his own parallels between the decaying landscape and his helplessly inarticulate protagonist. BAMcinematek presents Il Grido in memoriam of Alida Valli, who recently passed away.

L’Avventura (1960) 140min
Sat, Jun 17 at 3, 6, 9pm
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With Monica Vitti, Gabriele Ferzetti, Lea Massari
The film that made Antonioni an international sensation, L’Avventura concerns a young socialite who disappears from a Sicilian resort, and her best friend and lover who search for her, but lose their sense of urgency as they begin a desultory sexual relationship. As the figures remain alone in the bleak landscape, Antonioni delivers a study of isolation and alienation. Print made from materials restored by Mediaset-Cinema Forever, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Compass Film and Société Cinématographique Lyre.

“Of all the memorable works in film history, only a relative few have pioneered . . . and shining amongst these few is L’Avventura”—Stanley Kauffman

La Notte (1961) 122min
Sun, Jun 18 at 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30pm
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With Jeanne Moreau, Marcello Mastroianni, Monica Vitti
The brilliant pairing of Mastroianni and Moreau makes this a must-see for any serious film fan. La Notte equates the demolition of old Milan and the building of soulless new condos with a wife and husband trying to ignore the lack of passion in their lives. One of the final scenes, where Moreau reads an old love letter, is among Antonioni’s most eloquent statements on loss of feeling in modern society.

Chung kuo Cina (1972) 217min
Mon, Jun 19 at 7pm
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Part 1: 75min, Part 2: 82min, and Part 3: 60min

Invited to document Mao’s cultural revolution, Antonioni shot for two months in China. Rarely seen in full length as a three-part film, it’s neither the condemnation of China that the Mao officials claimed, nor a film of Communist sympathies—instead it’s a free-form Antonioni essay that contrasts the faces of a nation with the spaces they occupy. This print has been provided by Rai Direzione Teche.

The Girlfriends (Le Amiche) (1955) 104min
Tue, Jun 20 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
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With Eleonora Rossi Drago, Valentina Cortese
Antonioni’s fourth feature shows him already in incredible command of his moving camera to tell the story of a woman who returns home to Turin in the hopes of opening a clothing store. But with the discovery of a suicide, she gets drawn into a new set of girlfriends and their problems. A remarkable study of contemporary women and their roles in society that still seems relevant today.

“Though seldom seen now, Antonioni’s fourth feature is one of his greatest films.”—Time Out London

The Lady Without Camelias (La Signora Senza Camelie) (1953) 105min
Thu, Jun 22 at 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
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With Lucia Bose, Andrea Cecchi
In this stinging rebuke to the Italian film industry and its treatment of women, the luminous Bose stars as a simple shop-girl who is discovered by a movie producer and becomes a sensation. However, his jealousy leads to disaster when he casts her in a Joan of Arc biopic. Antonioni uses the movie-studio framework to gleefully dissect the cruelty and coldness of movie stardom. Print restored by Rai Cinema-Rai Teche.

“Far more than a footnote to Antonioni’s career; it is a preface to . . . the work that later was to include L’Avventura, La Notte, Eclipse, Red Desert, Blow-Up and Zabriskie Point.”—Vincent Canby, The New York Times

Zabriskie Point (1970) 110min
Fri, Jun 23 at 2, 4:30, 6:50, 9:15pm
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With Mark Frechette, Daria Halprin
Using a cast of mainly unknowns, Antonioni sets out to explore America, finding beauty and tragedy in the billboards and landscapes. This scathing rebuke to the American middle-class, as the counterculture heroes make their way through a political nightmare, ends in a final, devastating attack on consumer culture. New Print courtesy of Warner Brothers. In English.

“The most entertaining of Antonioni’s films. . . . the most intelligent, compassionate probing of the radical young in recent American film.” —Richard Corliss, Time Magazine

L’Eclisse (1962) 125min
Sat, Jun 24 at 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30pm
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With Monica Vitti, Alain Delon
Antonioni’s final film in the trilogy of isolation that includes L’Avventura & La Notte. Vitti plays a young woman who tries to bounce back from a break-up by letting herself be seduced by roguish stockbroker Delon. But is she even capable of being in love? The camerawork by Gianni De Venanzo explores the contours of the sultry yet angst-ridden Vitti in one of her finest performances.

Red Desert (1964) 120min
Sun, Jun 25 at 2, 4:30, 7, 9:30pm
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With Monica Vitti, Richard Harris
Vitti plays a neurotic housewife in a modern industrial landscape who looks to others for solace and comfort, but finds none. For his first color film, Antonioni gives the entire setting a sickening, sulfur-yellow glaze, making it surely one of the most innovative uses of color cinematography on record. This print has been restored by Mediaset–Cinema Forever.

“Perhaps the most extraordinary and riveting film of Antonioni’s entire career.” —Time Out London

The Mystery of Oberwald (Il Mistero di Oberwald) (1980) 123min
Mon, Jun 26 at 4:30, 7, 9:30pm
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With Monica Vitti, Franco Branciaroli
Vitti stars as a widowed queen who falls in love with her intended assassin. In this adaptation of a Cocteau play, Antonioni was years ahead of his time by shooting on video, then creating a system of color-coding and visual effects that have yet to be duplicated.

“Antonioni’s most impressive experiment yet . . . a bold new direction for the cinema, a work of dazzling ambition and achievement.” —Time Magazine

Identification of a Woman (Identificazione di una Donna) (1982) 128min
Tue, Jun 27 at 6, 9pm
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With Tomas Milian, Christine Boisson
A movie director looks for the ideal woman, hoping to find both an actress for his film and a new wife. But can any woman satisfy his ideal? After the video experimentation of Oberwald, Antonioni returns to his signature style, but ends the film with a sly tip of the hat to the science fiction vogue of the time.

“A brilliant, glittering piece of filmmaking . . . a stunningly beautiful film.”—Sight & Sound

Making A Film For Me is Life (1995) 88min
Wed, Jun 28 at 4:30pm
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Directed by Enrica Antonioni
An intimate look at the making of Beyond the Clouds, featuring interviews with much of the cast and Antonioni himself, who discusses returning to filmmaking with a help from friend and admirer Wim Wenders. 60 min. Antonioni Visto Da Antonioni (1978) A rare interview with Antonioni from 1978, made on the occasion of a TV retrospective of his films. 28 min.

Beyond the Clouds (Al di la nelle nuvola) (1995) 109min
Wed, Jun 28 at 6:50, 9:15pm
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With Fanny Ardant, Irène Jacob, John Malkovich
With assistance from Wim Wenders, Antonioni returns to form with this four-part feature (his first in thirteen years) that juxtaposes views of love and loss in modern-day Europe, linked by Malkovich’s ruminations. Each vignette has its own delights, but the finale, “This Body of Dirt,” is classic Antonioni.

“Feels like a summation of [Antonioni’s] abiding concerns. . . [and] an elegy for the art movie.”—Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

Antonioni: The The Vision That Changed Cinema 72min
Thu, Jun 29 at 4:30pm
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Directed by Carlo di Carlo
A mix of clips from Antonioni’s films and interviews, including Antonioni’s affable remark that: “I always carried with me incommunicability, but if I really were incommunicable I would have not been able to communicate incommunicability.” 60 min. L’ultima Sequenza di Professione Reporter Directed by André S. Labarthe. A close look at the stunning final sequence for The Passenger. 12 min.

The Passenger (1975) 119min
Thu, Jun 29 at 6:50, 9:15pm
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With Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider
Stranded in the North African desert, reporter Nicholson impulsively trades identities with a dead man. On the surface this is a globe-trotting thriller as Nicholson runs from police, his wife, and hired killers. But it also lets Antonioni examine what happens when we try to escape from ourselves; the final moments include one of the most audacious and mesmerizing long-takes in film history. New Print courtesy of Sony Pictures. In English.

“Arguably Mr. Antonioni’s greatest film. . . . Dazzles from first shot to last.”—Manohla Dargis, The New York Times