Michelangelo Antonioni

CHICAGO – 1961’s “La Notte” helped build Michelango Antonioni’s international reputation after the success of “L’avventura” and lifted stars Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau to an arthouse plateau. The film hasn’t aged as well as some of Antonioni’s best, in my opinion, although the 4K restoration on the new Criterion Blu-ray certainly helps one appreciate the visual compositions of its incredibly influential director. The release is a bit slight on supplemental material but fans of the filmmaker or star will simply be happy to have one of his more notable works in HD.

CHICAGO – “Framing a shot?” asks Ida (Christine Boisson), the latest photogenic lover of Italian filmmaker Niccolò (Tomas Milian), in Michelangelo Antonioni’s hypnotic 1982 effort, “Identification of a Woman.” Like Guidio, the hero of Federico Fellini’s 1963 masterpiece, “8 1/2,” Niccolò has the desire to create but has no story to tell, just “an idea of the female form” that perpetually haunts his imagination.

CHICAGO – A movie that comes closer to the lyrical and meditative style of Michelangelo Antonioni than any other in years, Anton Corbijn’s “The American,” now on Blu-ray and DVD, is a nearly-brilliant drama that found a respectable audience in theaters even if it wasn’t quite the right one.

CHICAGO – Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere” is her most lyrical film, a work that feels not unlike Gus Van Sant’s “Last Days” or “Elephant” in its liberal use of long takes, huge gaps in dialogue, and real-time scenes that seem to go nowhere.

CHICAGO – The Criterion Collection recently inducted the great Michelangelo Antonioni’s first color film into their esteemed catalog with a Blu-ray transfer that stands next to the best HD pictures of the year to date. This striking visual composition has never looked better and the film remains as mesmerizing as it was almost a half-century ago, arguably more so.