Michelangelo Antonioni’s “Blow-up” appeals to our senses and the human psyche. With an expertise touch, Antonioni is able to guide our senses with much ease and is able to control our reactions to the movie. Intentional or not, Michelangelo Antonioni creates a work of cinematic art, while not a faithful adaptation to Julio Cortazar’s short story it is inspired by the it to some degree. The movie captures the unpredictable and sometimes even random nature of the piece Cortazar wrote. As I stated before the movie “Blow-up” is inspired by one of Julio Cortazar’s most recognized works of literature. Having been inspired by the short story, the movie does not have to be that faithful to the original work of literature, in a way it is a movie that makes several; references to Cortazar’s story, and it does not have to follow the original every minute.
What Michelangelo Antonioni is able to do with his film is capture what made Cortazar’s short story so interesting. The unpredictable nature of events that lead to a climax and leave us without resolve at the very end to the point where we don’t really know if all that has happened in the main characters life has been a reality or a dream. By witnessing Cortazar’s characters re-created in real time, we get to actually see them other than imagining them and their personalities. We are able to see the photographer who is very much out of touch with peoples feelings and emotions, as he has total and complete disregard for what others may feel, in contrast with the the characters who surround him who appear to just simply care more than our grumpy protagonist.
In the end the movie “Blow-up” is Michelangelo Antonioni’s interpretation of Cortazar’s short story he really does not have to be all that faithful to the story and I respect that aspect of the movie. I watched with much anticipation to see what it would all lead to and greatly enjoyed watching Antonioni’s take on a very good short story. In the end, at least to me the movie blow-up is a great experience and in closing the movie is as unpredictable if not more so than the original work of literature art that Julio Cortazar created for us all to obsess over in order to understand, and figure out what is it that really happens to our protagonist. On another note, the music Michelangelo Antonioni uses in the movie is very psychedelic and a reflection of the times. Along with this type of music, the colors used throughout the movie are also very much a reflection of the times and psychedelic. I am lead to believe that Michelangelo Antonioni did this in order to set the tone of the movie, a story and events that are not impossible at all, but very improbable. The colors and music help blend all these elements together and this is one of the ways our senses are guided.
Pablo,
ReplyDeleteI think the key phrase in your entry is when you state that Antonioni makes "references" to Cortazar's story. As you remember, Andrew classifies "adaptations" as relating in 3 alternative manners to their "source" texts:
1. as signifier to a signified (source)
2. as referring to its referent (source)
3. and as intersecting its source.
Obviously, Antonioni uses Cortazar's story as a "referent." Several students, including you, point out that the freedom of Antonioni's "adaptation," that is, the fact that he "refers," that is makes free use of elements of the original text, is precisely what makes Blowup (the movie) successful. This statement--again made by several students in the class--raises the question whether the only successful way to adapt a story or novel is by "referring to it." Is it the case then that the attempt at fidelity (that is, at seeing the original texts as a signified) necessarily leads to inferior films?