Blow-Up

Antonioni’s mod masterpiece meditates on the possibilities of photography to enhance our view of the world.  Between sessions with supermodels, an exposé of a flophouse, and sexy romps with Swinging Londonettes, photographer Thomas (David Hemmings) stumbles upon a mystery after taking casual snapshots of a couple in a public park.  Suspicious of the behavior of one of his subjects (Vanessa Redgrave), Thomas expertly manipulates his photographic records, methodically enlarging them and apparently uncovering a crime. Venturing down a rabbit hole open to him through the power of his art, he becomes engrossed in his photos beyond their capacity to function as tools of knowledge, going past the point of clarifying details until they threaten to dissolve back into abstraction.

(Michelangelo Antonioni, UK, 1966, DVD, 111 min)

Visions of Scale: Magnification, Duration, Perspective, Projection
A 2-part film series developed by CMS Ph.D. candidates Matt Hauske and Junko Yamazaki, presented in conjunction with the Department of Cinema and Media Studies 2013 Graduate Student Conference, Visions of Scale: Magnification, Duration, Perspective, Projection, taking place at the Logan Center on April 5-6.