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MovieMail's Review
Graeme Hobbs delves into Michelangelo Antonioni's four short films about the mysteries of love, now available on DVD.
Beyond the Clouds comprises four short films, based on stories, ideas and sketches written by Michelangelo Antonioni, about the mysteries of love; its compulsion, its absence and its consolation.
In the first, about ‘a relationship that lasted for years without ever existing’, a young man twice turns away from the consummation of his meeting with a gracefully beautiful woman (Inés Sastre). Before he leaves for the second time, he motions the caresses of her naked body without ever touching her, except with his breath, until, seemingly realising that they are held together in perfection by a distance from each other that can only be destroyed by touch, he leaves.
In the second, John Malkovich’s wandering film director enjoys a brief sexual liaison, in off-season Portofino, with a woman (Sophie Marceau) he learns has killed her father. The third sees Fanny Ardant and Jean Reno as the two halves of cheating spouses who find themselves alone together in an emptied room, while the last sees a young man spend an evening in the fruitless pursuit of a young woman (Irène Jacob) who has already found perfect spiritual love.
The films have the strengths and weaknesses of short stories; at their enigmatic best, they leave much unsaid and intimate even more, while at other times, themes are simply abbreviated to gestures. It’s incredible though that the films exist at all. Beyond the Clouds was Antonioni’s first feature since a stroke 10 years before had left him partially paralysed and, barring a dozen or so words of basic Italian, without speech. He was assisted by Wim Wenders in translating his ideas into film, with Wenders providing the linking segments, including a delightful vignette with Jeanne Moreau and Marcello Mastrioanni. John Malkovich plays the roaming film director, with his words taken from Antonioni’s own writings, giving utterances such as ‘true words are shut inside’ are certain poignancy.
The DVD also includes the valuable ‘making-of’ documentary, made by Antonioni’s wife Enrica on the set of Beyond the Clouds, showing the directors’ collaborative process at work, and featuring reflections from Wenders and famed screenwriter Tonino Guerra.
'To Make a Film is to be Alive' (Fare un film per me è vivere, Enrica Antonioni, 1996) (52 minute documentary)
Audio Essay by Seymour Chatman
Production Stills Gallery.
Film Description
Four stories of love in Italy and France from director Michelangelo Antonioni. In the first, a pair of young lovers are unable to consummate their passion for each other. The second story features John Malkovich as a man stalking a woman (Sophie Marceau) who reveals that she has murdered her father. In the third tale a man attempts to appease both his wife and mistress, while the final story features Vincent Perez as a young man obsessed with a woman who is about to enter a convent.
A work of unsurpassed beauty, an exploration of what is at the heart of desire, drawing together four stories of desire, illusion and passion.
"Simply Beautiful" -
PAUL RONAYNE on 13th August 2009
The best, most beautiful things in life are always the simplest. Surely this was Antonioni's motto throughout his long career. Beyond The Clouds can be seen as a tribu... more >
The best, most beautiful things in life are always the simplest. Surely this was Antonioni's motto throughout his long career. Beyond The Clouds can be seen as a tribute to all of his earlier, enigmatic, searching films.Despite being disabled following a serious illness the master shows he had lost none of his powers as he takes us through a series of simple, hauntingly inconclusive male/female short stories all pulled together by film director John Malkovich in a quasi autobiographical role. Beautiful,suffering women (Sastres, Marceau, Ardant and Jacob) are joined by alienated men (Reno, Perez, Weller and Malkovich himself) on short journeys of discovery. The German director Wim Wenders assisted Antonioni on set and later wrote an enlightening book highlighting Antonioini's unique film making style. A fitting and lasting tribute to one of cinema's most sensitive and greatest autiers. < less
