Michelangelo Antonioni passes away in Rome

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Michelangelo Antonioni passes away in Rome

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Michelangelo Antonioni passes away in Rome
BY: Actress Archives  |  Tuesday, July 31, 2007
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Another film legend died this week as the passing of Michelangelo Antonioni followed on the heels of the passing of another master, Ingmar Bergman. It's been a tough week for film fans. Michelango Antonioni, one of the most influential filmmakers of the century and an Italian icon, has passed away at the age of 94 in Rome. Michelangelo Antonioni made films for the better part of six decades including recognized classics like the Oscar-nominated Blowup and the internationally acclaimed L'Avventura. Rome mayor Walter Veltroni spoke about the death of Michelangelo Antonioni and said, "With Antonioni, not only has one of the greatest living directors been lost, but also a master of the modern screen." According to the Mayor's office, the body of Michelangelo Antonioni will lie in state on Wednesday.

Michelangelo Antonioni was born in Ferrara, Emlia Romagna on September 29th, 1912. Michelangelo Antonioni graduated from the University of Bologna with a degree in economics and started writing for Il Corriere Padano, a local paper, in 1935. Michelangelo Antonioni moved to Rome in 1940, where he later enrolled at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia to study film. It started for him in 1942 when he wrote Un Pilta Ritorna with Roberto Rossellini and he also worked as assistant director on I Due Foscari. He started to travel in 1943, going to France, and shot short films in the '40s.

Michelangelo Antonioni didn't make his first full-length film until 1950 with Cronaca di un Amore. Two years later, he made I Vinti (The Vanquished) and found his first major success in 1960 with L'avventura. That was followed by La Notte and L'eclisse. The three films are often reffered to as a trilogy because of similar themes. A fourth film, Il Deserto Rosso in 1964, has similar themes as well. Michelangelo Antonioni then signed a three-picture deal with Carlo Ponti, which resulted in Blowup being released by MGM. The film was a major success and starred David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave. The second film in the deal, Zabriskie Point, was less successful but has grown a following over the years. Finally, Michelangelo Antonioni made The Passenger with Jack Nicholson in 1975.

Michelangelo Antonioni would go on to make a few more films - The Mystery of Oberwald, The Eagle Has Two Heads, Identification of a Woman - but it was that MGM/Ponti trio that he would be most remembered for. In 1995, Michelangelo Antonioni released Beyond the Clouds and in 1996, he won the Lifetime Achievement Academy Award, presented to him by Jack Nicholson. Michelangelo Antonioni was directing as recently as 2004's Eros, even though he suffered a stroke in 1985 that had damaged him.

Michelangelo Antonioni died the same day as Ingmar Bergman. The film world lost two legends and we send our condolences to both of their friends and families.
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