Notes on the ending: The last scene in the film reiterates the corruption of modern Rome that Antonioni is trying to convey. Niccolò walks into his home and goes to the window and stares at the sun with his sunglasses. He proceeds to close his eyes and imagine telling his nephew about the science-fiction film he is making that his nephew had requested. Niccolò begins imagining: it is about a spaceship that will travel into the sun, the nephew asks, “Why towards the sun?” and Niccolò answers, “To study it. If man can discover how matter is distributed in the sun and its dynamics he’ll know how the universe is made and the cause of many thing,” to which the nephew asks, “And then?” and then the non-diegetic haunting music gets turned up followed by the film’s credits. This conclusion fits perfectly into the alienation theme evident not only in this work but all of Anotinoni's. Niccolò feels so alienated from modern Rome that he is forced to make a film that has nothing to do with it. A film as far away as possible from the decadent society he lives in, a science-fiction film in space, not even in the same world that he is a part of. Another important aspect of this scene is Niccolò’s interest in finding out the cause of many things. This is more proof of the confusion he feels from modern Rome. Niccolò feels like he has to go into the sun to find out the answers to the world’s mysteries. The ending with the nephew asking, “And then?” is also worth noting. The nephew, in all his innocence, is asking what many artists are still trying to figure out themselves. Even if you do have all the answers, what can you do with them? With the film ending on that note it is almost as if Antonioni himself does not quite know the answer.
Wonderful note. It explains the feeling I get from watching it, without my being able to put words to them myself. I am currently trying to identify myself through Antonioni. Alas, I don't think this will be possible. All there is, is mystery and sometimes suspense.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's life! Thanks for the comment, glad you enjoyed
DeleteSpeaking of which...Antonioni ventured further into lesbo-land. I'm thinking of the scene in the swimming hall with the talk between Niccolo and the teen-age girl, who (unrealistically) frankly confessed to the middle-aged stranger that she enjoyed masturbation, especially when being helped out by another girl, and later with his short film (his last=?)The Dangerous Thread of Things (included in the "Eros" featurette) where women are dissatisfied with their men, and turn to masturbation, and finally, towards each other for fulfilment (?)....
ReplyDeleteSome people seem to think Antoinioni was simply a dirty old man. But I'm wondering if this turning all the further away from hetero sex to lesbianism was a way of displaying his alienation with life: In a world where there can be no intimacy between people or indeed to the surrounding world, women no longer turn to men for love. They may be too self-centered, narcissistic, or cut-off, making them only interested in themselves and therefore in (girls) who are like themselves.
Wold this be a plausible explanation for Antonioni's Dirty-ol'-man-syndrome, or was he simply a simple man? -- Just as Bergman really was?