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Blow-Up (1966)

Blowup (original title)
Not Rated | | Drama, Mystery, Thriller | 24 May 1967 (France)
A mod London photographer finds something very suspicious in the shots he has taken of a mysterious beauty in a desolate park.

Writers:

(story), (short story "Las babas del diablo") (as Julio Cortazar) | 3 more credits »
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Popularity
2,611 ( 567)
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 6 nominations. See more awards »
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Cast

Complete credited cast:
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...
...
...
...
...
The Brunette
...
Ron
...
Verushka (as Verushka)
...
Mime
Claude Chagrin ...
Mime
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Storyline

A successful mod photographer in London whose world is bounded by fashion, pop music, marijuana, and easy sex, feels his life is boring and despairing. Then he meets a mysterious beauty, and also notices something frightfully suspicious on one of his photographs of her taken in a park. The fact that he may have photographed a murder does not occur to him until he studies and then blows up his negatives, uncovering details, blowing up smaller and smaller elements, and finally putting the puzzle together. Written by Anonymous

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Sometimes, reality is the strangest fantasy of all. See more »


Certificate:

Not Rated | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

| |

Language:

Release Date:

24 May 1967 (France)  »

Also Known As:

Blow-Up  »

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Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,000,000, 31 January 1970
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

(Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

To loosen things up, David Hemmings decided to start the production with a bang. Literally. "In those days, when the money involved in making a picture was a lot less than it is now, it wasn't an uncommon opening ritual to test the mettle of a director [on a new production] by winding him up a little. In this case, we thought it would be a good wheeze to blow up a beautiful Mulliner Park Ward convertible Rolls-Royce. In one of the earliest shots, my character, Thomas...drives the Rolls away from a dosshouse where he's spent the night, snapping the run-down inmates. Thinking fast and with most of the crew ready to help, we suspended a pair of large steel plates under the engine and loaded them with nuts and bolts and any other oily metal objects we could find that looked like bits of engine. We also wired in under the bonnet a small, harmless bomb that would explode with a loud bang and a dense cloud of smoke." Having carefully planned the prank with the prop master who had a "wicked" sense of humour, Hemmings prepared for the first shot with the cameras rolling. "I drove the car round the corner into view and Props gave me the nod," he recalled. "I pulled a lever that had been rigged up for me under the dashboard and, instantly, a muffled explosion echoed off the walls of the drab brick buildings, immediately followed by a metallic clatter of detritus tumbling onto tarmac and a plume of blue-grey smoke spewing from under the bonnet of the vehicle. I snapped off the motor and came to a screeching halt." "An ominous silence followed the bang and the last rattle of metal. In the mirror I saw what looked like an entire engine scattered along the street behind me. It was so convincing, I almost believed the car had blown up." "Pierre Rouve, the producer, stood rigid at the roadside, as if paralyzed by cardiac arrest," Hemmings continued. "He had bought the car for the production from Jimmy Savile and I guess he was planning to keep it for himself afterwards. Now it looked like a write-off. The Maestro [Antonioni] himself barely winced. With a few tidy strides, he walked up to the sick-looking Roller, beckoning a spark to open the bonnet. He peered inside. Everyone on the set was laughing." "Antonioni slowly straightened his back and looked up at me where I still sat, pale and shamefaced, in the driver's seat. There was a shrewd, angry glint in his eye. 'Che cazzo fai?' he rasped icily. 'Stronzo! You have to learn now, David, this is not a picnic. We are here to work!' He knew perfectly well we'd been trying to wind him up, but now, a little late and with a nasty hollowness in my gut, I realized he was a very serious man indeed, entirely his own master, accountable to no one. And one of the greatest directors I ever worked for." See more »

Goofs

The hawthorn is in bloom in the park one day and entirely missing the following morning, though still in full leaf. It is clear that the second "day" was filmed in midsummer, some weeks after the first. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Mime: Give me your money. Do it.
See more »

Connections

Referenced in Home Improvement: Blow Up (1993) See more »

Soundtracks

Jane's Theme
Written and Performed by Herbie Hancock
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

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User Reviews

 
The best color film by Antonioni
8 January 2003 | by See all my reviews

This, along with L'Eclisse, is one of the two best Antonioni movies. It is very different from his earlier films in that it is much less overtly intellectual and is purportedly a thriller. However, it is no more a standard thriller than is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Instead, it is an examination of reality and illusion and an exploration of what distinguishes the one from the other. The movie has an exceptional lyrical quality to it, which of course is also not associated with thrillers. The color is gorgeous and Vanessa Redgrave is a total surprise. I have generally not found anything appealing about her, but in this movie, master-magician Antonioni transformed her into a ravishing beauty. Sarah Miles is also very sexy as the next-door neighbor. Young Jane Birkin plays a groupie who gets to roll around nude in the photographer's backdrop paper. As in L'Eclisse, the final scene is stunningly poetic.


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