I saw this movie a couple of times when I was a film student and rediscover it ten years later was a delight. Perhaps it is one of those films that are mostly seen by students, but it was in fact a hit in 1966. This may sound pretentious, but it’s a movie one should experience. Just lean back, enjoy it and stop thinking too hard about it. Don’t analyze it to death.

Attractive models are his work
The story is simple. We meet a fashionable London photographer called Thomas (David Hemmings) who spends his days coming up with new fanciful ways of shooting attractive models and scouring antique shops for props that might come in handy for photo sessions. One day he just grows tired of the whole thing, grabs a camera and heads out to a park. He takes a few random pictures here and there and suddenly comes across a couple in the distance who are embracing. The woman, Jane (Vanessa Redgrave), discovers Thomas taking pictures of her and runs to him, demanding to have his roll film. He refuses, but tells her she can have the pictures of her once they’re developed. Reluctantly, she agrees.

A short while later, she comes to his studio; he hasn’t developed her pictures yet, but he’s curious of this mysterious woman. They come close to having sex, but she leaves him after getting the wrong roll film. After indulging in an orgy with two teenage girls who want to become models (hey, it’s the ‘60s), Thomas gets to work on the pictures and makes a startling discovery. One of the photos shows Jane looking at something with a disconcerted expression in her face. Thomas keeps blowing up the picture and discovers what looks like a man holding a gun. That night he heads out to the park and discovers the dead body of a man. He hears a twig snap somewhere in the bushes and runs away. When he returns to the park the next day there is no sign of a body. That is basically the story of the film, but that’s only a small part of the experience.

First English-language film
Blowup was director Michelangelo Antonioni’s first English-language film and it was shot in London, carefully capturing everything that was “swinging” about the era. Hemmings plays the photographer as pretty much a self-satisfied prick. Several half-anorexic models appear as themselves, including Verushka and Jane Birkin, sporting whatever fanciful wardrobe that was the craze of the day. The bizarre orgy scene has the two girls wrestling with Thomas and each other clad in nothing but a pair of brightly colored panty hose. There are other typical features of the era. There’s an odd concert sequence with the The Yardbirds (where the director truly challenges his audience and it’s anyone’s guess what he’s trying to say), Herbie Hancock’s contemporary music accompanying certain scenes… and then there’s the rags, students with white-painted faces who drive around in a jeep, making cheerful noises and collecting money for charity. All this is “swinging” London and it’s a fascinating study. 

Then there’s the mystery. Who is Jane? What has she got to do with the murder? Who was murdered? Was there even a murder? Antonioni is playing with Thomas as well as his audience and it’s all about the atmosphere and illusions; wind blowing through the leaves in the park matter as much as everything else. The mystery has no other meaning.

The movie ends with the rags doing a mime act. They’re pretending to play tennis and suddenly Thomas can hear the sound of the non-existent balls hitting the non-existent rackets. It’s a complete illusion… just like the whole film. 

Blowup 1966-Britain-Italy. 111 min. Color. Produced by Carlo Ponti. Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Screenplay: Michelangelo Antonioni, Tonino Guerra. Music: Herbie Hancock. Cast: Vanessa Redgrave (Jane), David Hemmings (Thomas), Sarah Miles (Patricia), Jill Kennington, Verushka, Peter Bowles… Jane Birkin, The Yardbirds.

Trivia: Terence Stamp was reportedly considered for the part of Thomas.

Cannes: Palme d’Or.

Last word: “I would say my films are political, but not about politics. They are political in their approach; they are made from a definite point of view. And they may be political in the effect they have on people. ‘Blow-Up,’ for example, was not only about a certain life style in London, but it expressed a feeling about that style. And yet I wouldn’t want to put that feeling into words…” (Antonioni, RogerEbert.com)

IMDb