Blu-ray Review: ‘Identification of a Woman’ Drifts Through Fog of Ennui

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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.

Regardless of his efforts to move on, Niccolò’s past threatens to consume him. The alarm systems left by his paranoid ex-wife are still present in his apartment, forcing him to dodge cameras and sirens while entering his own residence. This sequence takes place at the top of the picture, and is rather amusing but also terribly sad. The same could be said about much of what follows in this voyeuristic meditation on sexual and artistic obsession.

HollywoodChicago.com Blu-ray Rating: 3.5/5.0
Blu-ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

Moviegoers frustrated with Antonioni’s enigmatic explorations of ennui among shallow intellectuals won’t find this picture any less maddening. Yet cinema lovers infatuated with Antonioni’s meticulous compositions and masterful craftsmanship will undoubtedly embrace this uncommonly potent work as must-see viewing. There are thriller elements throughout the picture, but they never truly coalesce into a suspenseful setpiece, save for the famous ten-minute sequence in which Niccolò and his other lover, Mavi (Daniela Silverio), get trapped in a frighteningly thick fog. The scene’s symbolic expression of Niccolò’s inability to decipher the traits necessary for a meaningful relationship is more than a tad obvious, but Antonioni’s eerie staging is brilliantly effective, with ambiguous threats seemingly burrowed in every corner of the screen.

Daniela Silverio stars in Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1982 film Identification of a Woman.
Daniela Silverio stars in Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1982 film Identification of a Woman.
Photo credit: Courtesy of The Criterion Collection

The fog emerges midway through the picture, just as the relationship between Niccolò and Mavi is about to derail. She’s a narcissistic aristocrat who defines herself through her sexual appetite. During one of the film’s raw yet less-than-explicit sex scenes, Mavi glances at herself in a mirror at the precise moment of orgasm. It’s one of many striking uses of reflections in the film, all of which are spectacularly lensed by master cinematographer Carlo Di Palma. When Ida echoes the words of Mavi, who believed that the need she felt for Niccolò was the antithesis of love, Di Palma frames her near a glass window that makes her appear as if she’s staring in both directions simultaneously. Is this composition designed to represent Ida’s warring impulses (her desire for Niccolò and her need to leave him), or is it meant to literally reflect the ever-present apparition of Mavi? These interpretations are mere speculation, but they are also a testament to Antonioni’s endlessly stimulating work.

Identification of a Woman was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on Oct. 25, 2011.
Identification of a Woman was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on Oct. 25, 2011.
Photo credit: Courtesy of The Criterion Collection

At age 70, Antonioni was revisiting many of his signature themes while helming his first Italian production in two decades. It’s tempting to consider how much of Niccolò is in Antonioni, particularly in regard to his paranoia. The character’s fear of impending doom is externalized by a news headline about the ever-expanding sun and the threat it poses to the earth’s surface. This seemingly random moment foreshadows the film’s startlingly abstract finale, which could be easily interpreted as Antonioni’s commentary on the future of movies in light of the recent “Star Wars” phenomenon.
 
Criterion’s digital restoration of “Identification of a Woman” is presented in 1080p High Definition (with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio), and includes no extras besides a trailer and the standard accompanying booklet. Archival interviews with the director would’ve been most welcome. This release also would’ve provided Criterion with an excellent opportunity to make a featurette analyzing Antonioni’s portrayal of sexuality, leading up to his 2004 short, “The Gaze of Michelangelo,” included in the compilation film, “Eros.” Instead, this edition features little more than an essay by critic John Powers, who hails Antonioni as “the last great modernist” and draws some provocative comparisons between this film and Fellini’s 1980 effort, “City of Women.”
 
There’s also an enlightening interview with the director conducted by critic Gideon Bachmann after the film’s premiere at Cannes, where it subsequently garnered the festival’s 35th anniversary prize. It’s intriguing to hear the filmmaker expound upon Niccolò’s “mature capacity for suffering,” and the importance of learning to restrain one’s emotions during tumultuous times. Antonioni voices his belief that the past must be annihilated in order for one’s instinctive impulses to be preserved. Yet by choosing to forget the past, how can one avoid getting lost in the fog of confusion? That appears to be the question lying at the heart of this aggravating yet fascinating film.

‘Identification of a Woman’ is released by The Criterion Collection and stars Tomas Milian, Daniela Silverio, Christine Boisson, Lara Wendel, Veronica Lazar and Enrica Antonioni. It was written by Michelangelo Antonioni and Gérard Brach and directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. It was released on Oct. 25, 2011. It is not rated.

HollywoodChicago.com staff writer Matt Fagerholm

By MATT FAGERHOLM
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
matt@hollywoodchicago.com

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