Social conscience, immortalized
29 September 1912 30 July 2007 the same age as many Neorealist Directors (Luchino Visconti, to name one) Michelangelo Antonioni was born in Ferrara on September 29, 1912. Arrive at the cinema after long and meaningful experiences in the years ' 50 and more than others so it is found to be witness to the passing from one era to another. At her school related important directors such as Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Wim Wenders. Antonioni, often referred to as bourgeois Director and author of the crisis, having collaborated on the screenplay of "Un pilota ritorna" (1942) by Rossellini and worked as Assistant Director to Marcel Carné, directs "Gente del Po" (1943-1947) his first documentary. His debut feature film is "Cronaca di un amore" of 1950, acute crisis analysis of torque. Follow, among others, "the Lady without Camelias" (1952) and "Le amiche" (1955), distressed reading the beautiful story "Among women" by Cesare Pavese. In these early works are clearly the key features of the work of the Director: the difficulties in establishing interpersonal relationships from real, the elusiveness of reality, disorientation of the individual struggling with a cold and little human society. His research deals with individuals who need a cinematic language capable of expressing the times and spaces of human psychology. The break with the neo-realism is evident in "the cry" (1954), which moves from the environment in that existential malaise issues, electing to proletarian protagonist a worker who turns into a long penalty kill affair. The road taken from Antonioni is to focus on the characters, to talk about their behaviors rather than the facts. From the analysis of these behaviors the Director comes to the criticism of society, and through the conflicts of the characters describes the aseptic bourgeois environment in which they move. Antonioni focuses on changes in social reality, trying to understand its complexities, tensions and developments. From here on the path of Michelangelo Antonioni proceeds shipped on the way a firm linguistic and content renewal, both "l'avventura" (1960), "La notte" (1961), "l'eclisse" (1962), "red desert" (1964), pose female characters at the center of stories marked by loss and dismay. Sometimes the dialogues collapse laughing stock, noted the "hurt your hair" pronounced by Monica Vitti in the last title mentioned. At this stage of his career searching for Antonioni becomes more pessimistic. The behavior of the characters becomes a cold Act, less and less an expression of human behaviour "to understand". In 1967 he moved to England to film "blow-up", then it's the turn of "Zabriskie Point" (1969), where highlights a civilization dominated by consumerism and repression, destined to self-destruct. The film was opposed by many, but that's not looked away from continuing its route, where Antonioni was trying to put his characters in contemporary reality, observed as much as possible in different contexts. With these intentions was conceived "Chung kuo, Cina" (1972), a 4-hour-long travel through China by Mao Zedong, and "Profession reporter" (1974, with Jack Nicholson), careful consideration on relations between the West and the third world, in which we find the signs of the ancient skill of Director. His latest efforts were "beyond the clouds" of 1994 (with Kim Rossi Stuart, Ines Sastre and Sophie Marceau), directed with Wim Wenders, and "Eros" (2004), divided into three chapters directed by Antonioni, Wong Kar-Wai and Steven Soderbergh. It was off at the age of 95 years at his home in Ferrara on July 30, 2007-the same day that was also another great Director, Ingmar Bergman. Reviewed today the cinema of Michelangelo Antonioni may still appear modern and innovative, also taking a few pictures, but in other respects may appear dated, as devoid of heirs who have managed to develop his lecture.