Ekstraklasse

Cast: David Hemmings, Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, Jane Birkin, Gillian Hills, Peter Bowles, Veruschka von Lehndorff, John Castle, Claude Chagrin, Julian Chagrin

The picture was awarded with Palme d'Or in Cannes and went down in cinema history as one of the most important films of all time. The script was based on Julio Cortázar's “Las babas del Diablo” (in English titled “Blowup”). The protagonist, a fashion photographer, becomes witness to a certain situation during one of the photo-shoots in the park. Seeking the truth, he enlarges the photos he made and in the frames he notices the body of an elderly man. Antonioni depicts the helplessness of modern man chasing authenticity, and shows life as never-ending play-pretend. One of the scenes in “Blowup”, where a couple of mimes are hitting an invisible tennis ball, can be read as a metaphor of modern times. .

Film dokumentujący życie mieszkańców wsi położonych wzdłuż rzeki Pad – rodzinnych okolic reżysera. Życie włoskich wieśniaków płynie powoli, a cały swój czas spędzają na ciężkiej pracy. Bez narzekania, z godnością znoszą własny los, są „solą tej Ziemi”.

Cast: Tomas Milian, Daniela Silverio, Christine Boisson

Nicolo (Tomas Milian), whose wife left him, decides to make a film about relationships between men and women. He begins the search for a woman to play the starring role, and that is how he meets Mavi (Daniela Silverio) – his sister's patient. Soon, Niccolo starts getting mysterious letters, and one day the woman disappears... The stereotypical love story is only a background for an insightful psychological analysis of female nature, which Antonioni took up in his films. After its premiere, the film was regarded to be very erotic, which aroused a lot of controversy among the audience.

Cast: Monica Vitti, Richard Harris, Carlo Chionetti, Xenia Valderi, Rita Renoir, Lili Rheims, Aldo Grotti, Valerio Bartoleschi, Emanuela Paola Carboni

The first picture of Michelangelo Antonioni in colour is regarded a revolutionary masterpiece in the history of cinema. The starring role in this film is played by the director's muse – Monica Vitti. The mysterious inside world of Giuliana (Monica Vitti), her emotions and moods are reflected in desert landscapes. The picture is an insightful psychological analysis of the protagonist, who is anxiously searching for her own self and for her place in the world.

Sicily seen by Antonioni is a series of beautiful landscapes. The documentary portrays everyday life of this land and its inhabitants. An ordinary picture manages to hypnotise and seduce the viewer. A short impression introduces us into a mysterious world that was very close to Antonioni. The director captures the moment, watches the surrounding reality closely and analyses it, unhurriedly creating a picture of this Mediterranean island.

Antonioni shows how superstitions and old wives' tales accompany Italian countrymen from their birth until their death. Blind faith in magical properties of objects, incantations, and irrational rituals organise their lives. The director pictures the absurdity of those beliefs in an instructional way: a woman is kneeling on a patch and eating parsley without using her hands, as it is supposed to help her in getting milk for her baby. The narrator talks about how to put a hex on somebody and how to protect yourself from one. Superstitions and rituals enrich the people's monotonous life and give hope for a better fate, e.g. bathing a newborn child in water with: a coin, a feather, a piece of wood, a piece of iron and a pair of scissors is supposed to bring the baby happiness in its adult life.