Constructing Meaning

One of the most amazing scenes in the history of cinema is undoubtedly the park scene in Antonioni's "Blowup." I'm going to spoil the film here in case anyone who has not seen this film reads this. However, this film is one of the rare cases where "spoilage" would not do it harm.

To sum up, a photographer wanders into a park in London to take photographs. He sees, on a field in the park, a flirting couple. He takes pictures of them unapologetically, until the female of the couple notices him, runs up to him, and begs for the film. He refuses, but she persists. Finally, they come to some type of agreement. They part. She runs away into the distance. He takes more pictures of her as she disappears into the field.

This scene would not be so historically important if not for the scenes that followed. The photographer (who has no name in the film) blows up the pictures after developing them because something in the film appears intriguing and mysterious (the woman's eyeline points to somewhere in the bushes). And he continues to do this, until he finds the "truth."



Here are the photos he blows up, placed next to each other in his studio. The film shows these photos filling up the frame, in succession, is if they were in motion, being edited directly into the movie:

































What is really amazing about this sequence is how the photographs become not only a metaphor, but also an agent of the cinematic language. As individuals, they are still moments devoid of drama, but together, they acquire the significance of time and logic.

Spatially, this is also a pivotal moment. We see the geography of the park blantantly laid out in front of us, almost panoramically. In film, we are restricted to seeing what is framed by the lens. Every movement (and lack thereof) is intended by the cinematographer and director. This means that what we see generates all the information we should know about that particular moment (and what we do not see should also generate common subconscious responses). Editing provides us with a variety, if not always more information. By placing all the shots together, we paint a mental canvas of the spaces in scenes in a manner designed by the filmmaker. But, as mentioned before, we don't see the whole picture. We are suggested a physical locale, as we are suggested causal actions that take place within this locale, but the information, when it boils down to solid visual evidence, is incredibly fragmented. This film is about the construction of truth through piecing together the fragments, and it is ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT.