Michelangelo Antonioni: A Distinct Presence and Major Influence upon Contemporary Italian Cinema

Melinda Uno

Professor G. Moses

Italian 170, UC Berkeley

18 October 2010

Michelangelo Antonioni:

A Distinct Presence and Major Influence upon Contemporary Italian Cinema

Inserted into the beginning of the Criterion Collection edition of “L’Avventura” is a frame: “This picture was honored at the CANNES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 1960 Special Jury Award “For a new movie language and the beauty of its images”. It is in these terms in which Antonioni’s reputation and success can begin to be understood. As a film, “L’Avventura” is acclaimed for stunning visual composition; as a director, Antonioni is credited with revolutionizing film in Italy in the manner in which he portrays almost ordinary people and everyday settings. Although the subject matter may not be overtly controversial, it is the subtleties and details in the characters’ dialogue and actions that are unique and serve as a microcosm of society in Italy during this time. Michelangelo Antonioni’s distinct style can be understood in the terms of an analysis of the psychosis of the characters as a result of their environment. By environment, this can be understood physically as well as in the terms of an analysis of the socio-historical influences and their effect on the characters in the films and the style and visual composition of “L’Avventura”, “La Notte”, “L’Ecclisse”, and “Il Deserto Rosso”. These influences include, but are not limited to political, cultural and philosophical conditions that premeditate the characters’ behaviors and conversations. An analysis of these influences and how they are manifested in Antonioni’s films will help to understand and define Antonioni as an auteur, a distinct director and cinematic presence.

Contemporary film theory birthed a contextual framework by which a film is to be understood. Antonioni’s films are noteworthy for a variety of reasons including Antonioni’s predecessors, influences, critical reception, and contemporaries: “Thus, inventories of features (usually mostly formal, usually grounded in the work of the text) must be broadened to include the relationship between text and context: the context in which the films were made, the context in which they are received” (Moses 1). Antonioni is defined as an artist by his timeless popularity almost as much as he is defined by the works he has produced, their form and structure. There is the concept of the auteur, the director in his compositional role as a choreographer of sorts, negotiating the social contexts of a storyline and how they affect a group of people:

As original and unique as a director might want to be, in order to maintain contact with the spectator he/she must necessarily rely on a commonly accessible repertory of elements... It recycles, that is, the givens of tradition, engaging various forms of discourse, putting them together in a way that produces an aesthetic whole … by appropriating various elements in a way that leads to something different and, in that sense, new (Moses 1).

As an auteur, Antonioni is somewhat brilliant. Antonioni simply put things together that had never before been combined visually and psychologically (in the antagonized psychoses of his characters). “L’Avventura” is the launching point of contemporary Italian cinema. Produced in 1960, this is partially the result of the history of cinema in Italy and the time in which Antonioni produced his first works. Risorgimento, the 19th century movement to unify Italy, lacked intellectual representation of the interests of the working class/peasantry as contrastingly the Fascist regime in Italy sought to appeal to “high culture” intellectuals due to their role under fascism and suspicions toward a “conservative agenda lying behind mass culture” (Ward). This affected the means of the distribution of art; technologically, newspaper and radio prevailed until televisions became more popular in the 1950s. Part of the history of cultural production in Italy was subject to the consequences of economic and political conditions.  An analysis of cinema by P. Adams Sitney states: “At the end of the fities and through the early sixties the Frankfurt school, the French nouveau roman, the aesthetics of chance operations, abstract art, and psychoanalyses attracted considerable attention in Italy. Undoubtedly Antonioni was influenced by this nouveau roman but claims a style his own visually and thematically.

European early 20th century Modernist tradition spurs a questioning of the relationship between art and politics. This spread to Italy – first with the Futurists who claimed art for politics and vice versa. However, under a totalitarian regime, those who were politically active were at risk for imprisonment, fine, exile, and in some cases assassination under the new oppressive government. Because art and politics were ideologically united these extreme consequences successfully censored art and the depiction of Italian society. Yet, seen with figures like Antonioni, the censorship of art did not castrate its evolution nor force it to disappear completely. Antonioni is a contemporary “intellectual”, assigned the daunting task of “Modernizing Italy” in the absence of a dynamic bourgeois class (Ward). Ward defines this role as one of “‘permanent persuasion’ within a civil society as agents for both the promotion of change and the maintenance of the status quo” assigned to people engaged in academic, writing professions and figures who have attained a certain position within civil society. This aids in the formation of consciousness with perception shaped by language and literature. By this logic, it is authors that contribute to the formation of a given society’s worldview as a result of their portrayal of the way the world works. This helps to understand the relations between politics and art in Italy: “(the) belief that the cultural activity resulting from an individual giving expression to his/her creative energies was also a political activity; and that free cultural activity was not and could not be subservient to politics” (Ward).  Generally, those with access to the means of the production of culture are those with money and therefore access to a wider variety of areas and situations. When those with money or power are in conflict with those seen as ‘intellectuals’, Ward cites Gramasci: “Intellectuals lay the cultural foundations on which moral and intellectual leadership are established in society” and culturally this is reflected artistically.  Antonioni is a part of this canon because of the literary references the characters make in his films. This includes Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night and the Bible in “L’Avventura”, The Sleepwalkers in “La Notte”, and Hemingway and “the Snows of Kilimanjaro” in L’Ecclisse. A writer is even one of the main protagonists of “La Notte”, and Antonioni’s analysis of this profession is manifest in the discourse at the book party as well as Pontano’s ego and the comparison between him and a prize-winning racehorse as collectable commodities to a millionaire.

An analysis of Modern Italian culture depicts an antagonized state in Italy during and after the Second World War (Ward). Extreme political ideals concerning nationalism and liberalism in the Italian Fascist regime effectively censored the proliferation and distribution of entertainment and art. As cinema became more popular, there was a void in the cinematic representation of Italy because of the lack of foundational influences. Prior to Antonioni, romance was still romanticized; dramatic and flowery language was the primary focus between couples in settings of war. Antonioni begins to depict the psychoses of (young) Italians in these situations; situations of life and death as well as romance and how these situations are incorporated into daily Italian culture. The intellectual and social elite are highly articulate yet internally and emotionally conflicted to a point of hypocrisy and contradiction. Antonioni however seems to favor urban settings for their stark and majestic presence, at the same time invasive and destructive to the natural landscape yet aesthetically beautiful and awe-inspiring.

Antonioni in the neorealist fashion cinematically portrays Italian life, seemingly without massive influence or interjection. However everything about these films is a product of Antonioni’s vision. His personal projection upon Italian culture and society is the same as the film projection itself; his whole work is his commentary, but the beauty and irony is that it is presented realistically. Stylistically, Antonioni contrasts between short, quick bursts of dialogue concerning every subject and the characters’ general disinterest for news and politics, set against series of long shots and choreographed movement, the primary and sole instances of music and ambient sounds of industry or nature. The long shots have become characteristic of Italian cinema of the 1960s, as a source of criticism as well as praise. Photographically these shots are stunning, almost empty stages where an actor steps into the frame. This motif reflects the relationship between a landscape and the people in it; society and a city and the way people interact with the setting although it seems the cultural space exists independent of the characters.

In a Cannes interview, Antonioni comments on “L’Avventura”: “in the modern age of reason and science, mankind still lives by "a rigid and stereotyped morality which all of us recognize as such and yet sustain out of cowardice and sheer laziness". This echoes the 18th century French aesthetic ennui, defined by Oxford Dictionaries as "a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement”. Antonioni’s characters evoke a constant sense of boredom and drama that would seem contradictory; yet the drama is possible because of the leisurely lifestyles of some of the characters. This can be seen in “L’Avventura” as Anna, who comes from a wealthy family, is distraught by her detachment from her friends and family. The friends go for a quick holiday to a seemingly deserted island, and Anna disappears, clearing the field for Claudia and Sandro to connect emotionally and physically. This contrasts with “L’Ecclisse”, where depressed and unexcited Vittoria forms a relationship with Pierro, who lives a fast paced stockbroker lifestyle. Vittoria and Pierro’s connection is short-lived but arguably no less authentic to the characters as the dramatic relationship in L’Avventura. In both films, the couples’ love is fleeting, a common theme in Antonioni’s 1960s films. Through the depiction of these couples, Antonioni is commentating on the nature of human interaction and values particularly in certain social settings such as parties and weekend trips.

Each of the main characters in Antonioni’s feature films is caught in some sort of emotional conflict; this is primarily due to the fact that the characters are drawn together as a reaction to a sort of trauma, such as Anna’s disappearance in “L’Avventura” or Tommassi’s death in” L’Ecclisse”; contrastingly Giuliana is alienated as a result of an emotionally traumatizing event in “Il Deserto Rosso”. In each case, the men and women depicted are subject to events and conditions that that cannot control; but, it is how each person reacts to these unforeseen and uncontrollable instances that are the primary focus of interest. Claudia and Sandro are brought closer together in their search for Anna in “L’Avventura”, but this is also a source of emotional conflict, particularly for Claudia who is, at times rife with guilt and concern for her friend. Antonioni doesn’t try to make is subjects exotic, each person acts in a natural and normal fashion in scenes of daily activity, in everyday places and a relatable western society. However, it is the manner in which these extreme events are processes that is almost exotic. The point to which Antonioni’s characters are at the same time continuous as well as hypocritical is strange, making his movies feel like some sort of anthropological examination of strange people in strange urban and alien settings.  

In these films in particular, Antonioni focuses on romantic relationships and the interaction between couples perhaps because of the amount of time that these people will spend together along with the ensuing conflict between emotions and the ways in which they are communicated. Other sorts of relationships Antonioni comments upon by depicting them in his films are that of friendships, families, or between socio-economic classes. The minimalistic dialogue Antonioni promotes in these situations is dense, ironic, and reflective of the interactions between different generations and social groups. For example, women and men seem to be joined primarily via sexual encounters and tensions. Giulia in L’Avventura is motivated by her distant lover and feelings of inadequacy in comparison to Claudia to encourage a tryst with the Princess’s 17 year old grandson. Similarly, the series of affairs in “La Notte” questions the longevity and authenticity of romantic relationships, as well as personal motivators of such interactions, primarily the sufficiency of Potano’s ego and Lidia’s insecurities.

 Sometimes Antonioni will portray these encounters intimately, with the camera as a sort of invisible observer into a private moment; other times, Antonioni will insert a mediator into the situation - such as a third party observer or observers, or place a physical barrier and mediate through a space such as a window in order to further alienate the audience from the scenes that are shown on the screen. Antonioni does this explicitly as is the case in “L’Avventura” when Claudia and Sandro watch a young couple discuss radios on the train. The young woman is aloof while the young man eagerly tries to introduce her to technology. This scene is a small comment on Italian youth culture, a way of depicting an idea without actually incorporating it into the plot. Similarly, in “L’Ecclisse” Vittoria and Pierro mock a couple they observe, in a way mocking themselves and their courting behavior. Examining the structure of this writing only increases interest in Antonioni’s style. Antonioni continually uses meta-stories: stories within the larger framework that reflect the framework itself. Another case of this is in “L’Avventura”, where Sandro follows Claudia on a train and fawns after her, followed by a scene where a celebrity writer, a young beautiful ‘intellectual’ and vapid woman is followed by a horde of men.  To the latter Sandro remarks: “To think, all of this for a woman. Disgraceful”. This subtle irony is a way for Antonioni to comment on what is going on with the characters. They are obtusely unaware of their own behavior, yet observe it in others and mock it to become a caricature of their own self. This highly bowdlerized image of the characters is reflective of the general film’s depiction of people in Italy. 

Antonioni allows the elements of his films, the cinematography, the dialogue, and the characters’ behaviors to speak for themselves. It is almost as though Antonioni as a director lacks the desire to interject into these scenes when it is the very basic composition of his films that defines Antonioni’s style. This reflects the neorealist trends in literature and culture of Fascist Italy preceding the production of “L’Avventura”. This is an unobtrusive style that to some may be uninteresting and far too slow paced, particularly due to Antonioni’s tendency to use long shots and minimalist dialogue. However, Antonioni’s style is visually stunning as the composition of each frame could individually be viewed photographically. These constructive and psychological elements make Antonioni distinct and separate him from other directors and other Italian directors but it is the beauty of the scenes and tragedy of his characters that make him profound as a cultural visionary.

 







Works Cited

Antonioni, Michelangelo, “L’Avventura”. Criterion Collection. 1988

“ennui”. “Oxford Dictionaries Online.  1 October 2010.

<http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_us1244234#m_en_us1244234>

Moses, Gavriel. “Auteur Effect”. Film 151 Reader. 5 October 2010.

<http://studio.berkeley.edu/coursework/moses/courses/texts/auteur-genre/Auteurs4pp.pdf>

Sitney, P Adams. “Vital Crises in Cinema”. 1995

Ward, David. Cambridge Companion to Modern Italian Culture. Ed. G Baranski Zygmunt and Rebecca J

West. Cambridge University Press. 2001. pp 15-96.