Blow-Up (1966) Blowup (original title)

Director:

Michelangelo Antonioni

Writers:

Michelangelo Antonioni (story)
Julio Cortázar (short story "Las babas del diablo")
(more)

Release Date:

18 December 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Michelangelo Antonioni's first British film

Plot:

A mod London photographer seems to find something very suspicious in the shots he has taken of a mysterious beauty in a desolate park.

Plot Keywords:

Photograph | Photographer | Park | Fashion | Murder

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Vanessa Redgrave	...	Jane
Sarah Miles	...	Patricia
David Hemmings	...	Thomas
John Castle	...	Bill
Jane Birkin	...	The Blonde
Gillian Hills	...	The Brunette
Peter Bowles	...	Ron
Veruschka von Lehndorff	...	Herself (as Verushka)
Julian Chagrin	...	Mime
Claude Chagrin	...	Mime
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jeff Beck	...	Himself - The Yardbirds (uncredited)
Susan Brodrick	...	Antique shop owner (uncredited)
Tsai Chin	...	Thomas's receptionist (uncredited)
Julio Cortázar	...	Homeless (uncredited)
Chris Dreja	...	Himself - The Yardbirds (uncredited)
Melanie Hampshire	...	Model (uncredited)
Harry Hutchinson	...	Shopkeeper (uncredited)
Jill Kennington	...	Model (uncredited)
Mary Khal	...	Fashion editor (uncredited)
Chas Lawther	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Dyson Lovell	...	Man outside restaurant (uncredited)
Jim McCarty	...	Himself - The Yardbirds (uncredited)
Peggy Moffitt	...	Model (uncredited)
Rosaleen Murray	...	Model (uncredited)
Ann Norman	...	Model (uncredited)
Ronan O'Casey	...	Jane's lover in park (uncredited)
Jimmy Page	...	Himself - The Yardbirds (uncredited)
Keith Relf	...	Himself - The Yardbirds (uncredited)
Janet Street-Porter	...	Girl Dancing In Ricky Tick Club (uncredited)
Reg Wilkins	...	Reg - Thomas's assistant (uncredited)

Directed by
Michelangelo Antonioni

Writing credits
Michelangelo Antonioni		(story)
Julio Cortázar		(short story "Las babas del diablo") (as Julio Cortazar)
Michelangelo Antonioni		(screenplay) and
Tonino Guerra		(screenplay)
Edward Bond		(English dialogue)

Produced by
Carlo Ponti	....	producer
Pierre Rouve	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Herbie Hancock		(as Herbert Hancock)

Cinematography by
Carlo Di Palma		(as Carlo di Palma)

Film Editing by
Frank Clarke		(uncredited)

Casting by
Irene Howard		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Assheton Gorton

Costume Design by
Jocelyn Rickards		(dresses)

Makeup Department
Stephanie Kaye	....	hair stylist
Paul Rabiger	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Donald Toms	....	production manager
Roy Parkinson	....	production supervisor (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Claude Watson	....	assistant director
Antal Kovacs	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Roger King	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Alan Roderick-Jones	....	draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Robin Gregory	....	sound recordist
Mike Le Mare	....	sound editor
J.B. Smith	....	dubbing mixer
Arkadi De Rakoff	....	assistant sound (uncredited)
Ray Palmer	....	sound assistant (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ray Parslow	....	camera operator
David Wynn-Jones	....	assistant camera
Arthur Evans	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Dennis C. Lewiston	....	camera operator: second unit (uncredited)
Alec Mills	....	focus puller (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rebecca Breed	....	wardrobe supervisor (as Jackie Breed)

Editorial Department
Alan Corder	....	assembly cutter (uncredited)

Other crew
John Cowan	....	photographic murals
Piers Haggard	....	dialogue assistant
Betty Harley	....	continuity
Bruce Sharman	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Bridge Films
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1966) (UK) (theatrical)
• Premier Productions (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1967) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1973) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1986) (UK) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (VHS)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (UK) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Italy) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (DVD) (censored version)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1967) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (Czech Republic) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)
• MFA Filmdistribution
• Vídeo Arte (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Cine Audio Effects  sound effects and foley design (sound effects)

Also Known As:

"Blowup" - UK (original title)

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:X (original rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Italy:VM14 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video rating) (1986) (1994) (2004) | Germany:16 (re-rating) | West Germany:18 (original rating) (w) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2005) | Iceland:L | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Argentina:13 (DVD rating) | Canada:14A (video rating) | USA:Not Rated | Singapore:NC-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Chile:14 | Argentina:18 (Original rating)

Filming Locations:

77 Pottery Lane, Notting Hill, London, England, UK

Company:

Bridge Films

Trivia:

A silver jacketed Janet Street-Porter can be seen wearing red/yellow striped PVC trousers and dancing to the Yardbirds during the club scene.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where Thomas purchases the propeller he is shown displacing a few bust sculptures from an above shelf. The very next shot, they are back in perfect order.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Dallas: Blow Up (#7.26)" (1984)

Soundtrack:

Stroll On

You always miss something

I would recommend that people who are considering watching this film for the first time not read the following. I don't mention the film's ending, I just believe its far more satisfying to let the films potent details nervously sink into place on their own.

It is not about cameras. It is not about seeing. It is about our perception of our individual world. It throws shadows on the very judgments we build our lives upon. Without mentioning the obvious references to illusion (the mimes, the abstract picture of the corpse, etc.), I offer the following expert signposts Antonioni leaves for us to find.

1) The guitar neck David snatches at the rave-up has value only until he is not being chased for it, whereupon he discards it in the street. The pedestrian who then picks it up sees it only as junk.

2) Dialogue with his model friend at the pot party: DAVID - ` I thought you were in Paris.' THE GIRL - `I am'.

3) Appearances and Disappearance (2 of the many). The Lynn Redgrave character pops up as he arrives at his apartment. His question `How did you find me' is not explained. Later in the story, it is notably odd when David wakes up the following morning after the pot party that there is no one to be seen in the party house. Even the decorations like the clothes hung on the statue the night before have vanished.

4) David teaches the affectations of smoking to the woman. She must create an impression.

5) His painter friend describes his painting. `They don't mean anything to me while I work on them. Its only later that I ascribed something to them. Like this leg.' Whereupon he points out a place in a painting that might be a human leg. When he paints, he is tapping subconscious language, something apart from subjective and objective reality. Its as if Antonioni is offering us an even further vantage point to the events to come, dream reality.

6) The rambling diversion of events shows David's inability to `focus' on working through his mystery.

7) So much is hidden from the viewer. Its almost suggested that the real end to the narrative takes place someplace after the movie has already finished, jarring our sense of story, insinuating an ending we never get to `see'.

8) David announces at one point to his friend, `If only I had more money I'd be all right.'. Meanwhile he drives through the whole movie in his Rolls Royce.

This is a very remarkable film. I was irked by the pacing and the diversions as I watched it, but that was exactly why it all kept coming and coming at me for hours after until finally in bed it all rushed through me like a gorgeous musical event. I know for certain there are many more hidden corners to it, but this is what I got in my first viewing. Just that gut feeling that I missed something, I believe, is exactly where Antonioni was going. You always miss something.