Oh, boy! Tonight, I finally got to see Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1970 feature Zabriskie Point. I generally like Antonioni’s films and I have been wanting to see this one for ages. It was his first film made in the United States (MGM payed the bill). While I liked the look of some of it, the film as a whole left me cold. I’m not sure exactly what Antonioni was getting at (it seemed to be a criticism of American consumerism–yawn) but as far as I’m concerned the film can be summed up with a quote from a black revolutionary character in the opening scene: a mix of jive and bullshit.
Anyway, the production stills were taken by photographer Bruce Davidson. Here are some scans. I might add more if I can find some.
It seems as though shooting in the States wasn’t exactly a picnic for Antonioni:
Here is the final scene of Zabriskie Point. It is by far the most exciting bit of the film.
Along with Zabriskie Point, I also received Antonioni’s Red Desert, which I will hopefully watch later this week. Expect a post on it sooner or later. Also, I should mention that even though I didn’t quite know what to make of Zabriskie Point, it is still not my least favorite Antonioni film. That distinction goes to one of his supposed “masterpieces,” The Blow Up. I hated that one on every level.
chained and perfumed 
Fuck you. Stop watching Antonioni. Stop it, now. Now. Stop it. Please forget about him and all of his films. He never happened and his films do not exist. Fuck you. No piece-of-shit American should ever watch his films. Not you or any of your fat, fucking, ugly, fucking, fat, cunt friends. Fuck. You. Choke. Die.
Wow, man. Far out.
I remember the promo line was “Antonioni Discovers America”. I guess he didn’t care for what he discovered.
Hello! This is an old post so I’m not sure if you’ll be seeing this, but I was wondering if you could give me a source for that quote of there? (About waste) I would like to use it in my thesis, but I would need a source for that of course..
Oh no, I can see your comment. Problem though: I’m not entirely sure where I found that. Almost definitely from an issue of Sight and Sound from around the period that the film was made/released but I’m not sure exactly which issue. I have it but it’s currently in a trunk that my TV sits on so not the easiest thing to get at. I’ll dig it out for you. If I don’t get back to you in a week, remind me.