The world of motion pictures has lost two giants within the last two days -- Ingmar Bergman, and Michelangelo Antonioni. I must admit that I could never take a shine to Bergman. His films left me cold, drained, without a drop of sunshine.
So why did I love Antonioni that much? His classic trilogy (“L’Avventura” (1960), “La Notte” (1961) and “L’Eclisse” (1962)) was not exactly a display of "fun under the sun" either.
But first of all, Antonioni's courage to leave behind the 2,300 years old 3-Act paradigm and sail towards the unchartered waters of emotions-without-a-plot really fascinated me.
Secondly, the way he brought the sense of modern alienation into focus will probably be without an equal for a long time to come.
His "Blowup" was not bad either but at the level of the Trilogy. "The Passenger" with Jack Nicholson is another latter-day Antonioni classic that should be on every cinema fan's must-see list.
The Italian master will be missed. And perhaps I'll write about him more later on.
For the time being, I'll refer you to this excellent NYT review.
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