I’m quite sure this is the first Antonioni film I’ve seen and I guess it matched my expectations but didn’t inspire me as much as some of the previous Italian neorealist films I have watched. Apparently, it’s Antonioni’s first feature film − he was directing documentaries beforehand. I was a little confused as I had the English dubbing with English subtitles and sometimes at random times the dubbing would stop, leaving just the subtitles, which actually were more concise than the dubbing.
There were some instances of interesting camera techniques, such as a tracking shot following the detective from behind as he walked around the room at the beginning of the film. Also, when Paula and her lover Guido are walking together along the street. I think there is also some symbolism at the beginning of the film when there are stars in the sky shown, then about half way through the movie, they are shown again − a sort of foreboding presence.
In a way although this is a neorealist film, Paula had the air of a star in this film. I guess I’m speaking from watching classic Murnau and Ophüls films, where the main characters are so rich and living in ultimate stylish luxury. Paula was quite beautiful, a typical Hollywood starlet, apart for the fact that it wasn’t a Hollywood film. I found her a very complex character. At the start I may have even felt a little sympathy for her but near the end she became so pathetic, melodramatically blaming Guido for the death of her husband − which he didn’t end up committing, as the husband crashed his car into a ditch (as he was shot by someone else?). She was quite dramatic and confused at times, as if she didn’t know what she really wanted. Actually, I found a lot of the characters, particularly the detectives when they are talking about how little they’ve found about Paula, they tended to use overblown hand gestures combined with really enigmatic and animated language. I guess this made the film stand out from most of the other neorealist films I’ve seen, seeing as though it featured an upper class lady, while most of the others were literally “on the street” films, featuring everyday people. This film made it hard to believe that there were people like this (wealthy) living at the same time as the poor protagonists of Bicycle Thieves. Also, I have to say the saxophone music was a little jarring, it gave the film an eerie feel, which may have been intentional.
Nevertheless, unlike Hollywood films, this one again ended with a sense of uncertainty − Paula’s husband, Enrico, is killed, just like the lovers planned but it seems like things may not be so happy ever after, with Paula dropped off home as Guido drives away into the darkness. So do they actually stay together for the rest of their lives? That is the strongest aspect of realism in the film. Though I have to say it was interesting how Guido’s fiancée was killed − we learn throughout the film that she was killed in an elevator shaft, when Guido and Paula were both present but failed to let her know the elevator wasn’t actually there. That is a unique way of dying − not the most realistic but different. The whole film was like this − ok to watch but I don’t really know how to react.
3/5
In a way although this is a neorealist film, Paula had the air of a star in this film. I guess I’m speaking from watching classic Murnau and Ophüls films, where the main characters are so rich and living in ultimate stylish luxury. Paula was quite beautiful, a typical Hollywood starlet, apart for the fact that it wasn’t a Hollywood film. I found her a very complex character. At the start I may have even felt a little sympathy for her but near the end she became so pathetic, melodramatically blaming Guido for the death of her husband − which he didn’t end up committing, as the husband crashed his car into a ditch (as he was shot by someone else?). She was quite dramatic and confused at times, as if she didn’t know what she really wanted. Actually, I found a lot of the characters, particularly the detectives when they are talking about how little they’ve found about Paula, they tended to use overblown hand gestures combined with really enigmatic and animated language. I guess this made the film stand out from most of the other neorealist films I’ve seen, seeing as though it featured an upper class lady, while most of the others were literally “on the street” films, featuring everyday people. This film made it hard to believe that there were people like this (wealthy) living at the same time as the poor protagonists of Bicycle Thieves. Also, I have to say the saxophone music was a little jarring, it gave the film an eerie feel, which may have been intentional.Nevertheless, unlike Hollywood films, this one again ended with a sense of uncertainty − Paula’s husband, Enrico, is killed, just like the lovers planned but it seems like things may not be so happy ever after, with Paula dropped off home as Guido drives away into the darkness. So do they actually stay together for the rest of their lives? That is the strongest aspect of realism in the film. Though I have to say it was interesting how Guido’s fiancée was killed − we learn throughout the film that she was killed in an elevator shaft, when Guido and Paula were both present but failed to let her know the elevator wasn’t actually there. That is a unique way of dying − not the most realistic but different. The whole film was like this − ok to watch but I don’t really know how to react.
3/5
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