Director Profile: Michelangelo Antonioni

It’s 1948 France, that Alexandre Astruc, a film theorist, coined the term caméra-stylo (camera pen). Astruc expressed that as a poet uses his pen, an auteur uses his camera. What makes a successful auteur, is the expression of a personal vision, and reflecting that vision to the screen.

Antonioni’s Signature

Michelangelo Antonioni was not only an auteur but a disrupter in the film industry. A director whose films went against the grain. Antonioni played by no critics’ rules. He shot instinctively, and with rhythm, to give his film a sense of structure.

Antonioni did come from a fortunate family that owned some land, with Catholic roots, and a supportive community. But the times were far from rainbows and roses. Postwar effects made it difficult for everyone in the world to heal.

From World War II to American presidential assassinations, the Watergate scandal, and diminishing trust in the government created a dark landscape. This is partly the reason why there’s such success in the newly formed neo-noir genre. Antonioni lived all these harsh realities, and it’s why his paranoia transferred so easily to the big screens.