Michelangelo Antonioni

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Richard · #26 Post by **Richard** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:36 am

And it is only tuesday. I hope that Godard, Herzog and Bertolucci are in good health.

MichaelB · #27 Post by **MichaelB** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:39 am

Richard wrote:And it is only tuesday. I hope that Godard, Herzog and Bertolucci are in good health.

Well, Bertolucci and Herzog are a lot younger! Mind you, Godard's nearly 77...

Ovader · #28 Post by **Ovader** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:42 am

Solaris wrote:I can't believe it, Bergman and Antonioni so close together.

I am starting to feel guilty because I was at a party with local indie filmmakers this past Saturday night. I talked about three of the older filmmakers: Bergman, Antonioni and a guy from Portugal (I couldn't remember his name). Maybe I pushed fate too much.

Richard · #29 Post by **Richard** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:48 am

MichaelB wrote:
Richard wrote:And it is only tuesday. I hope that Godard, Herzog and Bertolucci are in good health.
Well, Bertolucci and Herzog are a lot younger! Mind you, Godard's nearly 77...

I know. I was just thinking of what filmmakers we have left that are of somewhat equal stature. It's a huge loss that Bergman and Antonioni are no longer there.

MichaelB · #30 Post by **MichaelB** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:50 am

Richard wrote:I know. I was just thinking of what filmmakers we have left that are of somewhat equal stature.

Andrzej Wajda is still alive and active - he's just wrapped the most expensive Polish film ever made.

(I interviewed him a few weeks ago for an upcoming Sight & Sound, though I can't give you a sneak preview as his answers are still being translated - for various logistical reasons we ended up doing it via e-mail).

Oedipax · #31 Post by **Oedipax** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:51 am

Wow, this is too much. Antonioni was a giant of the kind of cinema that speaks most directly to me... I love Bergman's films too, but there's no question for me which one was more important in my own relationship to cinema, it's Antonioni, hands down...

Godard better live to be at least a hundred. I can't take much more of this.

Musashi219 · #32 Post by **Musashi219** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 10:29 am

I am at a loss of all words...

Grimfarrow · #33 Post by **Grimfarrow** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 10:35 am

Ovader wrote:
Solaris wrote:I can't believe it, Bergman and Antonioni so close together.
I am starting to feel guilty because I was at a party with local indie filmmakers this past Saturday night. I talked about three of the older filmmakers: Bergman, Antonioni and a guy from Portugal (I couldn't remember his name). Maybe I pushed fate too much.

You mean de Oliveira

mogwai · #34 Post by **mogwai** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 10:35 am

Yang, Bergman, and now Antonioni. Yang left us far too early, and while Bergman and Antonioni lived long, fruitful lives, their deaths are just as difficult to swallow. Just utterly sad. All those DVDs I have laying around waiting to be watched are just gonna have to be placed on the back burner for the time being -- this week, I'm watching the films of these masters (for the umpteenth time, and they'll never get old).

ellipsis7 · #35 Post by **ellipsis7** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:01 am

He did actually complete one short masterpiece recently THE GAZE OF MICHELANGELO - really wonderful and up there with his very best work...

One of my very favourite directors (along with Renoir, Ozu, Rohmer and Rossellini) - I have an original autographed pic here in my office along with a still of him directing the 7 minute shot from the end of The Passenger...

God rest his soul!....

"With Antonioni dies not only one of the greatest directors but also a master of modernity,'' Mayor of Rome Walter Veltroni said in a statement.

Caligula · #36 Post by **Caligula** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:21 am

I'm hoping Jules Dassin's OK. Agewise, he must be a tempting harvest for the reaper.

ellipsis7 · #37 Post by **ellipsis7** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 11:31 am

It's actually Alain Resnais who should be looking after himself, and Peter Cowie who should be watched if his 1963 volume Antonioni, Bergman & Resnais is any clue!...

Guardian obit by Penelope Houston

patrick · #38 Post by **patrick** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 12:31 pm

Antonioni's death isn't nearly as hard for me as Bergman's, but still...oof. Like a punch in the gut.

Rest in Peace.

numediaman2 · #39 Post by **numediaman2** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 1:07 pm

From 1960 to 1966, he was the equal to the great masters. It is irrelevant that after making The Passenger he stopped producing masterpieces. That seven year time period was enough.

Think of the films made during this time: the Bergman trilogy and Persona; La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2; the New Wave films, etc. Yet we still speak of Antonioni's films as masterpieces.

David Ehrenstein · Tue Jul 31, 2007 1:14 pm

Resnais is reportedly quite well. it's Rohmer who's in very poor health. Severe back problems have made it impossible for him to walk or stand. Triple Agent (a masterpiece) may be it.

Antonioni meant so much more to me than Bergman I don't know what to say. Met him when he visited L.A. a few years back for that tribute where the restored The Passenger was shown and Jack Nicholson spoke. Antonioni couldn't speak but was hysterically funny making faces at Jack and at the end lifted his one working arm to give us all a mock Papal blessing.

The one other time I met him was back in 1970 when Zabriskie Point (his fabulous film maudit) made it's New York premiere. My friend Peter Blum and I (Peter was a promising young critic, his life cut short two years later by depression leading to suicide) were walking by the Baronet/Coronet theaters and saw Antonioni standing in the lobby. We went up and chatted with him, and he told us "Oh you should come in and see the film."

But MGM wouldn't let us!

He apologized profusely to us, but that was that.

My personal faves: Eclipse, Cronica di Un Amore.

Awesome Welles · #41 Post by **Awesome Welles** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 1:27 pm

Another legend passes away, a real shame. Let us hope there will be no more major losses this year. Wishful thinking perhaps but at least these great people leave behind such great legacies for which they will always be remembered.

Gropius · #42 Post by **Gropius** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 1:35 pm

Probably my favourite director. At least he was one of the longest-lived of all filmmakers, although as David notes above, it's a shame that the last 20 years of his career found him incapacitated. The stroke, rather than his death, was probably the real tragedy of his life.

Barmy · #43 Post by **Barmy** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:12 pm

I'm wondering if his last wish was to outlive Bergman.

"Lo Sguardo di Michelangelo" ranks with "Love Streams" as the greatest cinematic farewell.

#44 Post by **domino harvey** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:12 pm

Christ, when it rains it pours. Tragedies are stacking up.

Barmy · #45 Post by **Barmy** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:34 pm

NYTimes obit reports that Beyond the Clouds "starred Jeanne Moreau and Jeremy Irons".

#-o

Gropius · #46 Post by **Gropius** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:44 pm

There are several brief video tributes up on the RAI site. I expect most of us don't understand Italian, but there is footage of the man and clips from throughout his career.

justeleblanc · #47 Post by **justeleblanc** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 3:31 pm

David Ehrenstein wrote:Resnais is reportedly quite well. it's Rohmer who's in very poor health. Severe back problems have made it impossible for him to walk or stand. Triple Agent (a masterpiece) may be it.

Rohmer's got a new one out. It's playing at Venice.

Dylan · #48 Post by **Dylan** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 3:32 pm

This is absolutely horrible. The only thing that comes to mind right now is the first time I saw "L'Avventura" (I was barely 15, and it wasn't very long after I had seen my first Bergman)...I was so moved by his tone and style of shooting and so completely awed and intellectually shaken by the ending that I found myself in tears.

I find myself in tears right now, as well.

fred · #49 Post by **fred** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 3:47 pm

justeleblanc wrote:
David Ehrenstein wrote:Resnais is reportedly quite well. it's Rohmer who's in very poor health. Severe back problems have made it impossible for him to walk or stand. Triple Agent (a masterpiece) may be it.
Rohmer's got a new one out. It's playing at Venice.

And in between he made a short.

colinr0380 · #50 Post by **colinr0380** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 3:49 pm

*sigh*

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Michelangelo Antonioni