BLOW UP - MOVIE BY MICHELANGELO ANTIONIONI

I recently watched this movie thanks to NETFLIX. I checked out the commentary which was provided by Peter Brunette, a film professor at WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY who was known for his book on the films of MICHELANGELO ANTIONIONI. From my perspective, the commentary completely mis-interpreted the film based upon an ignorance of both English culture in general and the MOD counter-culture that the film documented. I expressed my thoughts to Peter in the form of the following email.

BLOW UP is a great film incidentally. It really captures the vitality of early 60's youth culture in LONDON in vivid color. ANTIONIONI was a great master of cinema. I must say in fairness to PETER that he certainly provided plenty of technical and general information and insight into the methods of ANTIONIONI. I definitely learned a great deal from him in regards to this aspect of the film.


Peter

You did not ask for any feedback on this movie. Nonetheless, in the spirit of the rather bull-headed protagonist in the movie BLOW UP, I am going to presumptiously present some anyway without deference to social niceties etc.

For some real insight into the film you might want to do some research on MOD couter-culture proper. Thinking of this as a movie about SWINGING LONDON for me is far too vague of an observation. It is very specifically a movie about MOD culture in London which was the most progressive and influential subculture of that period. The protagonist in the film is clearly an un upper echelon MOD success story. An "ace face" as such folks were and still are known in England. This is evident from his very specific sartorial statement of identity. The chelsea boots, velvet jacket with (essential from exacting MOD standpoint), third pocket, white trousers, Ben Sherman shirt and so on. His assistant also displays his MOD credential very prominently.

From this perspective it is possible to gain a great deal of insight into the fractured nature of the story's plot. There was a very common propensity for usage of pills amongst mods mostly uppers. BLOW UP could easily be interpreted as a rather cautionary tale of a young hip MOD impressario whose amphetamine usage is taking him into the realm of psychosis and paranioa. This is evidenced by references to his looking "tired", his quick mood changes and fast paced progression from scene to scene, his jerkiness of movement, his short attention span and much more. Ultimately he is cracking up as a result of his lifestyle. 60's London was full of such MOD speed freak impressario's who oftentimes had rather extreme career arc's as a result of their pill fueled approach to achieving their (oftentimes culturally revolutionary) personal ambitions.

A similar theme was also explored in QUADROPHENIA by The Who.

Interestingly, The Who were the first choice of band for the performance scene in BLOW UP. They passed on the opportunity which led to The Yardbirds taking the role in proxy. Indeed they not only stepped in for THE WHO but quite literally 'aped' THE WHO's aggro performance style of which the destruction of equipment was a hallmark. Jeff Beck, The Yardbirds guitarist, was known far more for his dexterity and masterful usage of effects (wah wah) and did not feel the need to resort to any sensationalistic tactics ordinarily. If you look at footage from that period of THE WHO performing, you will often see their audience transfixed and stationary staring at the band in disbelief and to a degree fear. THE WHO were violent and intimidating. They would blow up their gear with actual explosive charges and did not hesitate to assault fans who they thought were stepping out of line. A great example being WOODSTOCK during which PETE TOWNSHEND of THE WHO took exception to ABBY HOFFMAN taking to the stage during their set. His way of expressing this unhappiness was to knock ABBY H off the stage with a round house swipe of his guitar.

In many ways BLOW UP is a very "true to life" documentary that captured a significant shift in the cultural winds of 60's LONDON. This is even shown in the driving scenes that you commented upon. They show LONDON in transition from the 'gray', bombed out and austere post world war 2 City that it was into the rebuilt cultural hub that it became. The CITY itself is one of the predominant characters in the film.

If you care to explore this MOD perspective on the movie I would have to recommend "Stoned" - the sutobiography of Andrew Loog Oldham. He ultimately managed the ROLLING STONES and was the quintiscential ROLLS ROYCE driving, impeccably dressed MOD impressario of that era. The protagonist of BLOW UP could easily be based upon Oldham.

It is my firm belief that you cannot understand this film properly without understanding the rather beautiful and arcane MOD sub-culture that spawned its existence. As a youth movement it required many of the elements that you see in the movie as precepts for "belonging" within its ranks. Class warfare, the naked ambition of the first generation to grow up in England without rationing for many years, drug usage, celebration of youth, sartorial elegance and so on.

With that assertion I bid you.

Adieu

John