Identification of a Woman (1982) Identificazione di una donna (original title)

Director:

Michelangelo Antonioni

Writers:

Michelangelo Antonioni (story)
Michelangelo Antonioni (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

15 November 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

The movie director Niccolo has just been left by his wife. This gives him the idea of making a movie about womens relationships...

Plot Keywords:

Director | Female Frontal Nudity | Rome Italy | Materialism | Italy

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Tomas Milian	...	Niccolò
Daniela Silverio	...	Mavi
Christine Boisson	...	Ida
Lara Wendel	...	Girl in swimming pool
Veronica Lazar	...	Carla
Enrica Antonioni	...	Nadia (as Enrica Fico)
Sandra Monteleoni	...	Mavi's sister
Marcel Bozzuffi	...	Mario
Gianpaolo Saccarola	...	The gorilla
Arianna De Rosa	...	Mavi's friend
Dado Ruspoli	...	Mavi's father (as Alessandro Ruspoli)
Carlos Alberto Valles	...	Close-up man (as Carlos Valles)
Sergio Tardioli	...	Butcher
Itaco Nardulli	...	Lucio
Paola Dominguín	...	Girl in window
Pier Francesco Aiello	...	Young man at party (as Pierfrancesco Aiello)
Giada Gerini	...	Landlady
Luisa Della Noce	...	Mavi's mother
Stefania D'Amario	...	Landlady's friend (as Maria Stefania D'Amario)

Directed by
Michelangelo Antonioni

Writing credits
Michelangelo Antonioni		(story)
Michelangelo Antonioni		(screenplay) &
Gérard Brach		(screenplay)
Tonino Guerra		(scenario collaborator)

Produced by
Antonio Macri	....	producer (as Antonio Macrì)
Giorgio Nocella	....	producer
Renzo Rossellini	....	associate producer
Alessandro von Norman	....	executive producer (as Alessandro von Normann)

Original Music by
John Foxx

Cinematography by
Carlo Di Palma

Film Editing by
Michelangelo Antonioni

Production Design by
Andrea Crisanti

Costume Design by
Paola Comencini

Production Management
Franco Ballati	....	production manager
Lynn Kamern	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gianni Arduini	....	assistant director (as Giovanni Arduini)

Art Department
Antonio Tarolla	....	assistant art director
Massimo Tavazzi	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Michael Billingsley	....	sound editor
Mario Bramonti	....	sound engineer
Fernando Caso	....	sound effects editor
Alvaro Gramigna	....	sound effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Umberto Dessena	....	grip
Massimo Di Venanzo	....	camera operator
Michele Picciaredda	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Fiorenza Muller	....	assistant editor
Giovanna Ritter	....	second assistant editor

Music Department
Dante Majorana	....	composer: additional music
Dante Majorana	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Violetta Coata	....	production secretary
Lorenzo Errico	....	production secretary
Renata Franceschi	....	script supervisor
Enzo Lucarini	....	administrator (as Vincenzo Lucarini)

Production Companies

• Iterfilm (as Iter Film S.p.A.)
• Rai Due (as Radiotelevisione Italiana Rete 2)
• Gaumont (co-production)

Distributors

• SACIS (1981) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Gaumont (1982) (France) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Facets Multimedia Distribution (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Homescreen (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Mr Bongo Films (2008) (UK) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Annamode  costumes (as Anna Mode)
• Cine Audio Effects  sound effects and foley design
• Rocchetti e Carboni  wigs
• Virgin Music Publishing  music publishing

Also Known As:

"Identificazione di una donna" - Italy (original title)

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian | English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Italy:VM14 | Argentina:16 | Singapore:R21 | Australia:R | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:11 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Iterfilm

Trivia:

Adverse word-of-mouth following 'New York Times' critic Vincent Canby's negative review of the film at the 1982 New York Film Festival led to the film being dropped by its US distributor. The film was eventually given a theatrical release in US in 1996.

Quotes:

Niccolo:People have reasons for going out at night, futile or otherwise, but we're quick to call them bandits because we suspect them for emotional reasons of our own.

Soundtrack:

Tangram

Who says that a perfect woman needs to be identified ?

Let us ask ourselves two frank yet simple questions about a modern day phenomenon called Italian cinema.Are Italian films difficult to understand ? Are films by Antonioni difficult as they are Italian ? Whatever might be the answer,it is somewhat true that Identification of a woman is an absolutely hard to please work of cinema.This is because the film is not at all about ways to identify a perfect woman. It is more about the attempts made by a filmmaker to identify two women.There is a perfect woman as well as an imperfect woman.Since there is no concept of a perfect woman,what the viewers see is a search for an imperfect woman.As disappearance appears to be the leitmotif of Antonioni's works,he has decided to augment it by showing the boredom of upper middle class section of Italian society.Antonioni has done a good job by portraying a film maker's frustration.He shows us things that go in the mind of a filmmaker before the birth of a film.This film requires multiple viewing sessions in order to be understood well by its audience.Identification of a woman could easily be rated as a crowd puller at some obscure film festival whose audience consists of people eager to see some action oriented flick. 25 years ago a film like this one was appreciated worldwide as it won a prize at Cannes International Film Festival.These days,there is a possibility that no many people will care about this film as they have lost all patience for films whose comprehension is beyond the range of ordinary knowledge or understanding.