Blow-Up

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Richard B One of those movies where it's good to read contemporaneous interviews to get the full flavor of what was intended. It's about how we have some grasp on reality, but it's never total. We have our interpretations, but predictions may not match up with events. The key is the scene where a painter is working on something but it takes time for his mind to recognize a pattern. There is a sense of reality in that a dead body is seen, but the grainy images that may or may not be a gunman could be just a Rorschach test, like seeing images in clouds. Without the evidence to be presented objectively to law enforcement, which is a good validation of reality, to have someone else confirm the same thing, it's up to a person's interpretation of who stole the film and prints as well as how the man died and what happened to the body. Antonioni said "I don’t know what reality is like. Reality escapes us, it changes continually. When we think we’ve reached it, the situation is already something else. I always doubt what I see, what an image shows me, be cause I 'imagine' what’s beyond that; and what's behind an image is unknown. The photographer of Blow-up, who is not a philosopher, wants to see more more closely. But what happens is that because he enlarges too much, the object itself decomposes and disappears. Therefore, there is a moment in which one seizes reality, but the moment immediately after, it escapes. That is, to some extent, the meaning of Blow-up." In the end, the main character disappears because he's viewpoint is coming from Antonioni the director. The audience of course will come up with their different theories in the same limited way so that everyone's point of view is illuminated, and probably quite different from the person sitting next to them in the theater. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/04/25 Full Review bob c Great 1960s movie about the illusion of then “swinging London”. The David Bailey type celeb photographer can’t tell illusion from reality and he doesn’t know what to do with either. David Hemings dominates the movie and captures the mood perfectly. Better than Antonioni’s take on counter culture America, Zabriskie Point, which didn’t quite do it for me. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 04/27/25 Full Review Maria A Sooooooo boooooooring. Really? Some people loved it? Hmmm. Maybe they were on acid or something. Rated 0.5/5 Stars •  Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 04/03/25 Full Review James W Without a doubt, the worst movie I have ever seen in my life. Painful. I would be more entertained by, and would find more excitement, depth, and meaning in, watching the grass grow in my yard. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/25/25 Full Review Ben D You know an Italian (Michelangelo Antonioni) directed this one when a photographer (David Hemmings), believing he may have captured evidence of a murder and is questioning what in his life is real and what is not, stops his existential journey to have a threesome with two young girls (Jane Birkin & Gillian Hills). Blow-Up is a pleasure to look at, filled with “Swinging Sixties” flair and chic and a protag that is interesting and idiosyncratic. But the plot and “left up to interpretation” ending is a letdown. Long stretches exist where you realize that no one has spoken and dialogue is a welcome change. Perhaps the more existential elements were lost on me and I began questioning myself as to why Thomas (Hemmings) wouldn’t just take his photos to the police. Thomas is impulsive and a tyrant when it comes to his career. He’s one of those characters you want to follow on an adventure, especially one with a setting like this, but was set upon a tedious path instead of something more thrilling. Blow-Up influenced and inspired Brian De Palma’s Blow Out, which I gave an (83) a few years ago and remember as the more interesting and entertaining movie. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/25 Full Review Will G Absolute classic. A window into 60's London, intelligent script and mind blowing cinematography, if you've a good print. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/31/24 Full Review Read all reviews

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