Antonioni's Black-and-White Gaze: Capturing Incommunicability

Michelangelo Antonioni (Ferrara, 29 September 1912 – Rome, 30 July 2007) is celebrated for his cinematic exploration of incommunicability and alienation, often rendered in stark black-and-white. After studying economics in Bologna, he turned to theatre and film, writing for Corriere padano and later for Cinema magazine in Rome. He attended the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and co-wrote Roberto Rossellini's Un pilota ritorna (1942). His first documentary, Gente del Po (1947), followed. Key black-and-white films include Cronaca di un amore (1950), La signora senza camelie (1953), I vinti (1952), Le amiche (1955), Il grido (1957), L'avventura (1960), and La notte (1961), the first with Monica Vitti, who also starred in L'eclisse (1962) and Deserto rosso (1964), his first color film. Blow-Up (1966) uses black-and-white to amplify its paranoid, surreal atmosphere. Later works include Zabriskie Point (1970), featuring a finale with exploding consumer goods set to Pink Floyd, and Professione: reporter (1975). Antonioni also experimented with electronic cinema in Il mistero di Oberwald (1979), published a story collection Quel bowling sul Tevere (1983), and exhibited 80 paintings, Montagne Incantate, at the Museo Correr in Venice. His 2004 short Lo sguardo di Michelangelo reflects on the artist's gaze.