Identification of a Woman (1982)

The movie director Niccolo has just been left by his wife. This gives him the idea of making a movie about women's relationships. He starts to search for a woman who can play the leading ... See full summary »

Director:

Michelangelo Antonioni

Writers:

Michelangelo Antonioni (story), Michelangelo Antonioni (screenplay)

Stars:

Tomas Milian, Daniela Silverio, Christine Boisson

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Giampaolo Saccarola	...	The gorilla (as Gianpaolo Saccarola)
Dado Ruspoli	...	Mavi's father (as Alessandro Ruspoli)
Arianna De Rosa	...	Mavi's friend
Sergio Tardioli	...	Butcher
Itaco Nardulli	...	Lucio
Paola Dominguín	...	Girl in window
Pier Francesco Aiello	...	Young man at party (as Pierfrancesco Aiello)

Storyline

The movie director Niccolo has just been left by his wife. This gives him the idea of making a movie about women's relationships. He starts to search for a woman who can play the leading part in the movie - but also in his own life...

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | pubic hair | female underarm hair | cult director | female frontal nudity | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

MMr Bongo Films

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian English French

Release Date:

15 November 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Identification of a Woman

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Iterfilm, Gaumont, Rai 2

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Top-billed third in the credits, Christine Boisson is not seen nor mentioned in the first 82 minutes of the film.

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Quotes

Mavi: I like being cold. But you'd like to see me wrapped in warm clothes, so I don't catch pneumonia or even a cold. Well, if I do, it's my business!
Niccolo: You'll never catch anything. You're immune to disease, like a shark. They can swallow a license plate or the polio virus. They digest it all.

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Connections

Featured in Tonino Guerra: A Poet in the Movies (2008)

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Soundtracks

Romantic Waltz
Written by Fausto Cigliano

User Reviews

A divorced film director has an affair that ends badly and its mostly her fault, then another affair that ends badly and its mostly his fault.

Antonioni's "The Passenger" is probably my favorite film. It's a singular work which manages to have the highest philosophical ambitions without seeming the least pretentious. That's not to say that Antonioni never seems pretentious. He sometimes is very much so, and this is a case in point. I wouldn't describe this as a good movie exactly- it's a bit too self-absorbed, with some lousy dialog and a howlingly funny leading man, who seems like an SNL parody of an Italian leading man. But having said that, it's still vintage Antonioni, and he was a master. For every moment that makes a fan wince, there are others of exceptional compositional beauty: street scenes in which "extras" take on inarticulable metaphysical weight, moments, such as a scene where the protagonist is lost in fog, that seem to depict the invisible. The theme of the film could seem misogynistic, and in a way it is. But really, this film is about the unknowability of the Other, and the way that black hole nonetheless illuminates Being.