Michelangelo Antonioni Has Died at the Age of 94

It is turning out to be somewhat of a cursed week for titans of world cinema. First we bought you the news of Ingmar Bergman’s death and now I bring you the news that Michelangelo Antonioni, aged 94 has died. Michelangelo was a whirlwind for cinema, always breathing new life into everything he touched and created a path of originality with classic films like L’Avventura (1960), L’Eclisse (1962), The Red Desert (1964) and most famously Blow-Up (1966).

Born in Ferrara, Italy in 1912 to a middle-class family, Antonioni started his film career as a critic where he became renowned for his attacks on the national cinema. He then went on to study at Italy’s national film school in the 40’s. After his stint at school, he became a screenwriter for Rossellini and Federico Fellini and made his directional debut with Story of a Love Affair in 1950.

It wasn’t until ten years later that he had his international break-out hit with L’Avventura. Since then, he has produced countless pieces of cinematic history. His last screen effort was 2004’s The Dangerous Thread of Things which was released as part of the Eros anthology.

Antonioni was awarded an honorary Oscar in 1995 where he gave the shortest acceptance speech in Academy history - “Grazie”. He was also a winner at all the major festivals (Venice, Berlin, Cannes). He leaves his wife, actress Enrica Fico.

Our thoughts are with Enrica and his family at this sad time.

Source

Get the latest news in our RSS Feed, Newsletter or follow us on Twitter.