bitterstranger

I have to admit I have always found it difficult to watch an Antonioni film from start to finish at the first try, and even for this one, I ended up watching it in three parts on repeated occasions. In the end, I realised perhaps it was better that way, because it forced me to stop thinking in the usual terms of plot and just enjoy the scenes one by one.

The first part seems a lot more fragmentary, which is not a bad thing, it just requires more of an effort to follow. When it gets to the desert scenes, all efforts are repaid in full. The stunning cinematography is only a part of it, what really makes it all unforgettable is how the landscape is made into an overwhelming presence, the silence and vastness of it, the sense of sadness and freedom, the way it fuses and contrasts with the two young characters. The desert is dead, but at the same time it feels less distant and alien than the urban scenes in the first part. The dance between the airplane flying over and the girl's car makes for a series of great shots. The love scenes in the desert are simply beautiful, it is hard to imagine this kind of approach from a film of our times. There is of course something very stylish and studied about them, but at the same time they manage to express a sense of natural, spontaneous innocence that is very rare these days. It all feels loose and unscripted (thanks also to the understated acting), but that is the result of a maniacal attention to detail and form, which comes to its climax in the series of explosions at the end, a really mesmerising spectacle. It just leaves you in awe.

I don't really care for some the usual objections: boring - well, yes, it is, if you want all films to follow a classic plot development and be packed with action twists, but then if all cinema was like that, that would be truly dull and sad; pretentious - maybe, but when that kind of ambitiousness is coupled with actual skills, depth, and style, pretentious is a compliment. The "political" criticisms make the least sense to me, I don't see the point of approaching a film like this with ideological blinders or worse, patriotic requirements. It just defeats the purpose. Perhaps it's true that, like a previous commenter remarked, Antonioni viewed these young 'hippies' and the politics of protests and riots with the police with the fascination of a foreigner, but I think that adds something rather than detracting from the film. It's not true that hippies did not exist in Italy at the time (think of the '68 protests, like in France), although they were obviously different from the American counterpart and in some ways even more militant. But his interest in this film was not narrowly political. The events seem more like a pretext for a film whose appeal has a universal, timeless quality.

A special mention for the fantastic soundtrack. Amongst other things, this film, along with Easy Rider, is probably one of the main earliest precursors of the contemporary 'artsy' music video as well as the concept of a film soundtrack that would stand on its own, but unlike the former, it uses music in a much more subtle way, blending it with the landscape rather than the action.

If you want traditional narrative in a film, then don't bother. If you want to be stunned, be patient and you won't regret it.

Now that I know the film is based on a comic book, it figures. As I watched it without knowing that, I was reminded of MTV's Daria, especially in the way the main character, Enid, reacts to mostly everything and everyone with a mix of sarcasm and apathy. Thora Birch plays yet another teenage misfit, it's hard to tell if she's so good at it or if you're just used to seeing her in that role. There are times when the clichés and caricatures can become a bit too heavy, but overall it works.

Everything in the film has a sketch-like quality, from the photography and setting to the plot itself, which is more like a series of vignettes. Sketches are also how Enid describes the reality around her, by drawing on her diary. There's a theme of fakeness running through the film and several brief comedy scenes serve to illustrate that - like when Enid and her friend are sitting in a fifties "authentic" diner and 80's music comes through the juke box. It's one of the signs of the uninspiring, suspended surreality they live in.

Enid's friend, Rebecca, played by Scarlet Johansson, is a marginal character, she doesn't get much of a role in the film, other than to serve as contrast for Enid. She ends up adapting more easily, gets a job and a flat, and their relationship grows colder as Enid has more and more difficulty following her friend's example, or even deciding if she wants to follow that route at all. There's a scene where Rebecca, frustrated by Enid's inability to make up her mind, blurts out rather cruelly "good luck living with your father for the rest of your life". That remark, along with the situation it refers to, is one of the things that lead Enid to realize she needs to take some decisions or they'll all be taken for her by others. That is what the whole film basically revolves around.

There are funny bits of social satire, like the misguided controversy over Enid's art piece and the failure of her teacher to stand up for her. For Enid, even good experiences start from unpromising circumstances and her own most careless indifference. The idea of life as a matter of success vs. failure, winners vs. losers is debunked.

Steve Buscemi is, as ever, absolutely brilliant as the "dork" Seymour. His character is also in many ways a caricature, but he gives it real depth. The unlikely affair developing between him and Enid is the most genuine part of the film. What happens to Seymour in the end is dealt with a heavier dose of comedy than perhaps would have been necessary, while Enid's future is more poetically left open-ended. For anyone expecting some sort of definite closure, this is going to be disappointing, but I don't think it is one of the flaws of the film. It just doesn't have a typical plot development so there is no contradiction in the ending being so vague. The final scene makes nice use of a tiny sub-plot that was both comical and loaded with heavier symbolism, the old man sitting on a bench waiting for a bus that never seems to come. When Enid finally catches her own bus we don't know where it leads and what she plans to do or with what money, but, as someone who really cannot stand cheesy happy endings, I thought this was a nice way of closing the film. She finally gets the courage to enact her wish about leaving in exactly the way she had talked of before. It does work as a resolution in an understated way, showing us how, after waiting for something to happen from outside, she finally decided it was up to her to start taking control of her life.

All in all, an enjoyable, lighthearted and bittersweet satirical comedy, with good acting (did I mention Buscemi is fabulous?) and amusing dialogues and situations. Just don't expect too much out of it, and you'll be pleasantly surprised. 7/10