455) Identification of a Woman (1982) Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni Date Released: Nocember 15, 1996 Date Seen: October 26, 2011 Rating: 4/5
This was supposed to run at Press Play. But it got lost in the shuffle, I suppose. Here it is anyway.
Silence is the hallmark of real intimacy in Michelangelo Antonioni’s Identification of a Woman, a character study following a restless man that can’t stop himself from talking and coaxing women into talking to him. “I’d like to be silent with a woman,” Niccolò (Tomas Milian), a listless film director, says at one point. “Have the same kind of relationship you have with nature.” This is impossible because, for most of the film, Niccolò is chasing after Mavi (Daniela Silverio), a woman he first seeks out as a potential star for his next project. Niccolò is still chasing Mavi even while he’s having sex with her. The film’s sex scenes, shot by master DP Carlo Di Palma, pay close attention to the contours of the human body and how various different parts never seem to seamlessly fit together.
Paranoia and obsession are symptoms of the human condition, as Niccolò understands it so everyone around him speaks their minds and no one remains silent for long. Even a mysterious stranger that is stalking Niccolò reminds him twice that he’s following him. This is striking because, as in L’Avventura in particular, Identification of a Woman’s plot revolves around absence and longing that isn’t expressed in explicit terms. It’s about the gaps in time and space, like the one created in the landscape by Identification’s famous fog-choked road scene, and how we choose to fill them while waiting for the inevitable. Ultimately, Niccolò’s probably more connected with his stalker than he ever was with Mavi.
