Blow-Up (1966)

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

Director:

Michelangelo Antonioni

Writers:

Michelangelo Antonioni (story), Julio Cortázar (short story "Las babas del diablo") (as Julio Cortazar)

Stars:

David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited 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	...	Verushka (as Verushka)
Julian Chagrin	...	Mime
Claude Chagrin	...	Mime

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.

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Plot Keywords:

photographer | murder witness | fashion photographer | swinging london | blow up | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes, reality is the strangest fantasy of all.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK Italy USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 February 1967 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

Blow-Up

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,000,000, 31 January 1970

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bridge Films, Carlo Ponti Production, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During film, David Hemmings was annoyed to see that Michelangelo Antonioni was shaking his head back and forth in the gesture that he had interpreted as negative during his audition process. However, he soon realized that the gesture was simply a tic and had no negative meaning at all. "Once the mystery was solved," he said, "I was prepared to love him; and I never told him about the week of hell he'd put me through as a result of his affliction."

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Goofs

When Thomas is driving along Stockwell Road towards Woolwich, he drives past the same red-painted building - Pride & Clarke (a contemporary motorcycle dealer) - several times.

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Quotes

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

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Alternate Versions

Some of the music was rescored for the Warner DVD release, namely the latter part of the opening title music. The VHS releases' music remain intact.

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Connections

Referenced in The Girl in the Photographs (2015)

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Soundtracks

The Thief
Written and Performed by Herbie Hancock

User Reviews

Patience will be rewarded

If you believe that the ending makes the movie, Blowup is for you. The first 30 minutes seem aimless and wandering, but they set up the main character and what is he is to discover about himself, about his occupation and about art in general. Antonioni builds tension (or frustration as you're watching it) not with plot, but with anti-plot. You want to scream at David Hemmings's character to: focus! screw those models! do something! But as the film unfolds you will see why Antonioni chose this actor, this profession and those girls. A wonderful manifesto about the dangers of voyeurism and what it does to a man's sexuality that is 40 years ahead of its time. The symbolism might get heavy handed at times (mimes, a broken guitar), but the sets are so full of creativity and the actors so beautiful (this will give my age away, but Vanessa Redgrave, who knew?) that you forgive Antonioni (he's Italian after all). Hemmings is Hugh Grant before Hugh Grant, but in this role at least, much more interesting. He's highly sexual, but unlike his painter roommate, his chosen art form represses him, all in the name of the shot. And when he finally gets the perfect shot in the perfect light, it's so perfect that someone steals it, and for good reason. Did those events actually take place or just through his camera lens? When the photos are the proof of what you see, then when that proof is taken away, did you see?