Identification of a Woman (1982) User Reviews

Female identity

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 30 January 2019]

It is easy to see why Michaelangelo Antonioni is a divisive director. Personally appreciate him (if not love) highly and love a fair few of his films, his directing style is unique, his themes are fascinating and there are many transfixing moments in his films (some amazing final shots and unforgettable endings for instance). His style and some of his films understandably perplex and alienate others, will admit to not liking all of his films and do feel that a few of his films do have what he can be criticised for.

'L'avventura', 'L'Eclisse', 'The Passenger', 'Le Amiche' and 'La Notte' are examples of great and more Antonioni films, while 'Blow Up' and especially 'Zabriskie Point' left me indifferent. Then there are Antonioni films that fall somewhere in between and not always easy to review. 'Identification of a Woman' is one of those films, though found more good with the film than bad and it is one of those films that was much better on re-watch. Very like 'Red Desert'. There is an awful lot to admire and what is so good about Antonioni's best work is here, generally though for me it's lesser Antonioni and just wanted to be gripped by and connected to it more.

As always with Antonioni, 'Identification of a Woman' is superbly made on a visual level. Have nothing to complain about in regard to the gorgeously vivid cinematography and atmospheric production design with some of the most effective use of fog on film. The music doesn't intrude and in style and utilisation it complements, if not enhances, rather than clashes. The writing is thought-provoking and doesn't ramble.

Did find myself connecting to 'Identification of a Woman' emotionally, even if not fully engaging with it. The film has moments of knowing irony and just as many of genuine poignancy, so certainly was not left cold. The actors passionately engage with their material while providing expressive nuance, there isn't anybody truly mind-blowing (i.e. Monica Vitti in all her Antonioni work) but at least there aren't miscasts (Richard Harris in 'Red Desert') or amateurish leads ('Zabriskie Point').

However, while there isn't any self-indulgence or heavy-handedness, Antonioni's direction doesn't seem as fully committed as it usually is and it comes over as a bit tired. While the story does have emotional investment and is more coherent than the storytelling in 'Blow Up' and 'Zabriskie Point', the ambiguity is still taken too far and there is a lack of clarity.

The themes here have been handled with much more development and freshness in other Antonioni films and the character and relationship development is vague and veering on shallow. Do not mind that there was ambiguity, didn't care though that it felt like there was too much. Pacing is an issue, with the film tending to badly sag in momentum that it becomes sluggish, a problem when some of the story is quite slight.

Overall, above average with many impressive things but somewhere in between by Antonioni standards. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Weak but interesting Antonioni film

[zetes · 6/10 · 22 January 2002]

This is probably obvious, but if you don't like Antonioni, stay away from Identification of a Woman. If you've never seen another, check out one of these films first: L'Avventura, La Notte, L'Eclisse, Red Desert, Blowup, The Passenger, or Zabriskie Point. If you are a fan of Antonioni, like myself, please do check out this film. It is definitely one of Antonioni's weaker films, but it is still undeniably in his style and containing his regular themes. This one is about a film director who can be said to fall in love with a woman (who, incidentally, looks a lot like a very young and extraordinarily thin version of Monica Vitti), but he can't express that love. The woman is upset at this and disappears. In some ways, this is like a weaker version of L'Avventura. The man tries to get on with his life, begins dating again, but eventually realizes that his mind revolves around the girl who abandoned him. This film is disappointing, especially if you're in love with Antonioni the director. The direction is generally flat. Only a few scenes show his supreme visual style. 6/10.

IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1982) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 15 August 2007]

Antonioni's last film prior to his suffering a stroke is this very typical effort (co-written with Gerard Brach and Tonino Guerra), dealing with a number of key themes that run through his work – lack of communication, the mystery-as-journey-of-self-discovery, etc. That said, the film wasn't picked up for U.S. release until 1996 and is consequently perhaps the least-seen of Antonioni's films from his post-AVVENTURA phase!

Anyway, the mystery element links the film with the director's earlier BLOW UP (1966) and THE PASSENGER (1975); still, it's never as intriguing here as in those more celebrated titles (especially since, for once, it's explained away at the end!)…but, as I said, the film eventually emerges to be more about the mid-life crisis of its central character (despite the title). Interestingly, he's a film director – though "Euro-Cult" favorite Tomas Milian feels as incongruous to Antonioni's cinema as Marcello Mastroianni's presence had been in LA NOTTE (1961)! He has an obsessive relationship with a young woman (even enjoying some LAST TANGO IN Paris [1972]-type sex scenes!) who eventually leaves him and disappears (shades also of L'AVVENTURA [1960]); while searching for her, he meets a variety of other willing girls (among them Antonioni's own future wife Enrica Fico). Marcel Bozzuffi appears in one brief, irrelevant scene as Milian's brother.

Overall, the film is tiresomely long and often mirrors the tedium experienced by the characters; the ending, however, is a beauty – suggesting that, even if he's a failure at love, a film director is still left with his imagination. Carlo Di Palma's cinematography is notable, too – particularly at the Venice location (where, coincidentally, I saw the Antonionis three years ago!) and during the tense fog-bound sequence; the film's score, then, is a mix of electronic, ambient and pop – and all very much of its period. As was the case with THE PASSENGER, THE MYSTERY OF OBERWALD (which is now one of only two features by the director I've yet to catch up with!) and BEYOND THE CLOUDS (1995), Antonioni had a hand in the editing of the film; here, he receives sole credit for this and the result makes especially effective use of ellipses (the factors of time and space had always been a primary concern in his work – thus making the apparently mocking recourse to science-fiction at the end anything but coincidental!).

2 Hours if you're in the Mood

[Canadian_Amateur_Film_Dude · 6/10 · 26 March 2020]

Very detailed from start to finish between the drama of a modern relationship to the subtle insecurities that boil up when people are stressed.

This work it beautifully shot, extremely atmospheric and knows how to elicit a mood that keeps your interest considering the very slow plot progression. The slow progression makes the film difficult to process at times but the pure emotion that the scenes evoke make this an interesting watch. You could say, it's a vibe.

There is a recurring theme of paranoia and uncertainty and the fog scene was actually very suspenseful and enjoyable to watch!

An underrated and brilliant film worth watching.

[Xanadu-2 · 10/10 · 9 October 1999]

A very beautiful film with that special Antonioni atmosphere. I can identify with the feeling of emptiness and the people who can´t really communicate with each other. Modern life and adulthood seems shallow and a bit soulless. You have to fill it with something and make it human again.

The first time I saw it I was disapointed but it improved greatly with the second viewing and I want to see it again. There are new things to discover each time as with all of Antonionis´ films.

Identification of a Woman

[MartinTeller · 6/10 · 30 December 2011]

This feels a little bit like "Antonioni For Dummies". Although there are some mysteries and ambiguities, for the most part it's rather plainly laid out and not as enigmatic as his more highly-regarded works. Which isn't to say it's a bad movie. It drags quite a bit, but there are some intriguing parts. The highlight is the fog-shrouded centerpiece of the film... a rather blunt metaphor, but still eerie and compelling. The ending is also a treat. The cinematography by Carlo Di Palma is excellent, perhaps even surpassing his work on RED DESERT. And the soundtrack, though it will probably sound dated to most, is full of stuff I like -- OMD, Tangerine Dream, Steve Hillage. Overall, the film is engaging, but only intermittently so. The first half is more rewarding with all its paranoia... things fizzle out more in the second part.

A recently-divorced film director is looking for a woman who would eventually inspire his next movie. He meets two women.

[WilliamCrocodile · 10/10 · 28 May 2013]

I think there are no such things as popular movies or intellectual films. there are good films and bad ones. Whether they are westerns, film noirs, comedies or action movies is irrelevant. some of them speak to you as if you were a nut-head, others as if you were able to share their vision and if necessary think by yourself, not mentioning others who would simply insult a 5-year old. This movie definitely falls in the second category. First of all it is visually rewarding. Antonioni is a painter in films and every scene, every shot is beautiful and interesting. As to the plot and characters, they are puzzling, for, as in all Antonioni's movies, they never act or react as expected. There is mystery, in every scene. It is so modern that not many films of today can compete. The love scene for instance is unrivaled in today's cinema and makes "Basic Instinct" look like sexual excitation seen through the eye of mickey Mouse. It's a film about creation, fatherhood, what it is to watch and to be watched. it's about cinema!

Interesting but far from big Antonioni

[aleXandrugota · 7/10 · 18 May 2023]

The idea of the film is not bad at all. It contains enough carefully dosed mystery, as Antonioni likes it, but unfortunately, the performances of the actors leave something to be desired. Tomas Milian is passable, although it's hard to get the American out of him, but Daniela Silverio rarely rises above mediocrity. Extremely fake, far too theatrical, everything from the erotic scenes to the banal ones. Fortunately, the character she plays disappears in the middle of the film, but the appearance of Christine Boisson does not improve things much. Does she get behind the embarrassing roles in "Emanuelle" or is that all there is? None of the mentioned actors had a very notable career, and I really don't understand why Antonioni agreed to sacrifice a promising script for the performance of mediocre actors!

Rome is gorgeous, Niccolo's apartment is absolutely gorgeous, and the fog scene is very well handled, becoming almost surreal and reminiscent of Antonioni from the "Adventure" period. However, the film, which I have re-watched several times, continues to please me because it maintains a very pleasant mystery and tension.

Who says that a perfect woman needs to be identified ?

[FilmCriticLalitRao · 4/10 · 28 July 2008]

Let us ask ourselves two frank yet simple questions about a modern day phenomenon called Italian cinema.Are Italian films difficult to understand ? Are films by Antonioni difficult as they are Italian ? Whatever might be the answer,it is somewhat true that Identification of a woman is an absolutely hard to please work of cinema.This is because the film is not at all about ways to identify a perfect woman. It is more about the attempts made by a filmmaker to identify two women.There is a perfect woman as well as an imperfect woman.Since there is no concept of a perfect woman,what the viewers see is a search for an imperfect woman.As disappearance appears to be the leitmotif of Antonioni's works,he has decided to augment it by showing the boredom of upper middle class section of Italian society.Antonioni has done a good job by portraying a film maker's frustration.He shows us things that go in the mind of a filmmaker before the birth of a film.This film requires multiple viewing sessions in order to be understood well by its audience.Identification of a woman could easily be rated as a crowd puller at some obscure film festival whose audience consists of people eager to see some action oriented flick. 25 years ago a film like this one was appreciated worldwide as it won a prize at Cannes International Film Festival.These days,there is a possibility that no many people will care about this film as they have lost all patience for films whose comprehension is beyond the range of ordinary knowledge or understanding.

A Nutshell Review: Identification of a Woman

[DICK STEEL · 6/10 · 4 July 2008]

As introduced by Lorenzo Codelli, Identification of a Woman was presented in the Cannes Film Festival in 1982 and received a special anniversary award. It's like a personal movie because the lead character Niccolo (Tomas Milian) is a film director, and tells of a personal crisis of the filmmaker. Niccolo was played by a leading Italian actor of the time, Tomas Milian, who was famous for his roles in Italian spaghetti westerns, and was an action star. This was essential the last feature film made by Michelangelo Antonioni before his stroke, before which he spent most of the 80s publishing short stories and exhibiting his abstract paintings.

And personally, my bad track record with Antonioni's post L'Eclisse movies unfortunately continues. I'm pretty sure I'm missing something very obvious (or could be it so subtle it eludes me?) that I'm finding each of them quite difficult to sit through (save for perhaps The Passenger), and to try and see its underlying meaning. Perhaps I am just scratching the surface and in doing so, fail to appreciate what the movie's about and for.

Or maybe Identification of a Woman is indeed the weaker of the lot, because of certain resemblance to plot design with his earlier masterpieces? For starters there seemed to be some repetitive themes revisited, but that I'm fine with because it made it easier to click with and connect. Just like how Niccolo and his squeeze Mavi (Daniela Silverio) spend considerable time at an emotionally empty high society party reminiscent of that in L'Notte, where they nurse issues from the heart, as well as for one to come to terms with the other's secret admirer.

Surely the sex is good, and the movie wastes absolutely no time in getting beneath the sheets for some surprisingly erotic time of a horizontal tango complete with underarm forests, but naturally physical love doesn't compensate for emotional depth absent between the lovers, highlighting something inherent wrong in their relationship. Having anonymous threats made to Niccola also didn't help, as he experienced first hand how these threats got carried out to hurt those he loved. We spend a bit of time with their attempts to escape from a stalker, and even had a technically brilliant sequence involving a deep mist that I thought contemporary movies like Frank Darabont's The Mist, or the video game movie adaptation of Shallow Hill, had taken a huge leaf from.

For Niccolo's inability to declare his love and address their conflicts, we get a dose of L'Avventura here. Mavi disappears, and we don't really get to see much of her thereafter. Niccolo tries to launch a search, and we get into the second half of the movie where we see his new relationship with a young actress Ida (Christine Boisson). But of course there are issues to grapple with here, and I thought was something I'd understand as well, and that's the continued holding out of the candle for someone else, together with the notion of love versus need, and serving as an emotional crutch. It's not fair of course, but there's more challenges ahead for Niccola in his relationship with Ida to accept, but by the time we get to it, I'd more or less didn't really care for Niccola anymore.

Which probably contrasted to a statement which Lorenzo Codelli shared about what Antonioni said regarding this movie being about its characters. I thought his earlier movies had stronger and more interesting characters, or at least those who can hook my attention down and allowed me to care for them a bit, versus those in this movie. Then again, I suspect I may be on a different wavelength since I enjoyed most of Antonioni's earliest works in the 50s, as compared to the more contemporary ones shown this week so far.

You have to have an immortal patience to see it!

[RodrigAndrisan · 4/10 · 25 September 2023]

"What was God doing before he created the world?" asks Mavi, the character played by Daniela Silverio. "Nothing!", replies Niccolò, the main character of the film, played by Tomas Milian, an alter ego of Michelangelo Antonioni himself, director of the film within the film. This is right at the beginning of the film, which gives you hopes, believing that you will see a deeply philosophical film. But, hopes are dashed immediately and you have to have nerves of steel to resist watching the whole movie, 2 hours and almost 11 minutes. This is what happens when you don't have a film subject, you make a film with a film director who doesn't have a film subject, who doesn't know what he wants, and the whole film he is looking for the face of a woman which he wants to cast in the film for which he doesn't have a topic. OK, let's admit that it is a film about some difficult characters, in search of themselves. But the main actors are not convincing. Believable are Marcel Bozzuffi, an exceptional actor, who appears very little, and my compatriot, the Romanian Veronica Lazar, also excellent in a small role, the delicate sister of the character played by Tomas Milian. But, it doesn't save anything. Even the sex scenes and the total nudity of the two actresses with angelic faces, Daniela Silverio and Christine Boisson, do not save the film from total boredom. The musical fragments used, exactly to my taste, Tangerine Dream, Peter Baumann, Orchestral Manoevres in the Dark, etc., do not help either. I warned you, if you resist until the end, check if you're still alive, you might have died of boredom without even knowing it.

maybe needs another look

[christopher-underwood · 7/10 · 21 September 2022]

It is a bit slow and rather difficult story although it is really simple. It is the language that is a bit unreal at the start but I have to say that the photography is wonderful. I especially loved the stairs, the lagoon of Venice and the best of all the fog. In the car it begins okay at first but it gets rather scary but the traffic lights in the thick fog is almost as a dream. After the girl disappears and he finds another straight away, it reminds me previously of Red Desert (1964) and more so of L'Aventura (1960) of the loss of the girl and another. Not Antonioni's greatest but okay and maybe needs another look.

Between reality and fiction

[ricardojorgeramalho · 7/10 · 2 November 2023]

The story of an artist, film director, divorced, who seeks, in a new woman, to rebuild a meaning for his life and work. A muse that inspires a new film at the same time that fills the obvious gap in his life.

Antonioni thus mixes reality and fiction in the protagonist's journey, in a challenge equally launched to the viewer, who slowly separates the waters between the work and its creative process.

It is an intelligent film in which the master returns to his favorite theme, the relationship between man and woman, although it is hardly comparable, in form and content, to the classics that elevated him to the status of star of the new Italian wave.

Superbly Atmospheric minor masterpiece

[mark.hudson · 10/10 · 5 June 2001]

Possibly the most atmospheric film I ever seen, it made a huge impact when I first saw it, and that opinion has never changed. If there is one film that conveys the mystery of life this is it. It is also a highly evocative picture of Italy from the perspective of the upper middle classes in the late Seventies. Crying out for a DVD release as the photography was excellent too on the original film showings.

A divorced film director has an affair that ends badly and its mostly her fault, then another affair that ends badly and its mostly his fault.

[treywillwest · 8/10 · 23 November 2011]

Antonioni's "The Passenger" is probably my favorite film. It's a singular work which manages to have the highest philosophical ambitions without seeming the least pretentious. That's not to say that Antonioni never seems pretentious. He sometimes is very much so, and this is a case in point. I wouldn't describe this as a good movie exactly- it's a bit too self-absorbed, with some lousy dialog and a howlingly funny leading man, who seems like an SNL parody of an Italian leading man. But having said that, it's still vintage Antonioni, and he was a master. For every moment that makes a fan wince, there are others of exceptional compositional beauty: street scenes in which "extras" take on inarticulable metaphysical weight, moments, such as a scene where the protagonist is lost in fog, that seem to depict the invisible. The theme of the film could seem misogynistic, and in a way it is. But really, this film is about the unknowability of the Other, and the way that black hole nonetheless illuminates Being.

Rewriting

[aleskander · 8/10 · 16 June 2020]

Antonioni, an old Antonioni, seems to revise his topics, helped by the poet Tonino Guerra and an excellent cinematographer, Carlo Di Palma. The result is an interesting film which reminds us The Night, The Adventure & The Eclipse mainly, but also The Passenger and Blow-Up. A filmmaker is searching for locations and characters for a new film while reinterpreting the reality, the film, at the same time is sensual and mysterious. It contains an excellent scene, when the main characters get lost in the fog.

Ouch dude my brain hurts

[rooprect · 7 May 2021]

First the good. The fog scene. OMG. Incredible. Even if you decide to skip this movie, you should try to find that scene and watch it. Next the bad: ouch dude my brain hurts.

"Identification of a Woman" was the last feature film by master director Michelangelo Antonioni before he suffered a debilitating stroke and lost his ability to communicate. It was also his long-awaited, eagerly-anticipated salivatorily-received return to the cinema of his native Italy after some 15 years making films in the UK & USA. This is a landmark for the fans, and as far as that goes I am... how does one say "fanboi" in Italian?

But wow, this is a difficult film.

Although the story is easy enough to follow (a director searches for the perfect female character for his latest movie whilst personally going through several women in his life), the plot is not the main focus of the movie. Rather, the main focus is on Antonioni's style of storytelling which has always been cryptic and deliberately confounding.

In this case it can be outright frustrating or even infuriating. This is because, unlike Antonioni's earlier Italian works that you probably love him for ("L'avventura", "La notte", "L'eclisse", "Red Desert"), here of course we don't have the wonderfully human Monica Vitti or any of the other interesting characters such as L;eclisse's boy-faced charmer Alain Delon or Red Desert's broodingly introspective Richard Harris. Here the characters are all deliberately wooden personifications of social tiers and personality types. While, yes, that successfully shifts focus to the theme of the film, it makes for a difficult movie watching experience.

Further complicating the experience are some explicit sexual scenes which can be disturbing to watch (a scene of a man aggressively pleasuring a woman with his hand, leaving nothing to the imagination) which was undoubtedly Antonioni's deliberate embracing of the new sexually explicit cinematic style of the 80s. Indeed, a prominent theme in many of his works is that new ways must be forcefully embraced even at the expense of losing our traditions.

So it all fits with what he's saying here. I won't argue with his presentation. I'll just say, wow that was difficult. Other reviewers have noted that you really have to watch this film twice. I'm sure I'll give it another go soon enough. I just need to rest my brain first.

An Overlooked Masterpiece

[jblacktree · 10/10 · 15 December 2011]

Negative reviews or remarks about this masterwork should be ignored. If you follow the director's career from his first films forward, this investigation places among his greatest works. His concerns, (with the impossibility of a personal identity, with a default identity in/as landscape, cityscapes, with ravishing interiors and an exterior world that is terrifyingly beautiful, fraught with allure and menace in equal parts), are fully realized here. There are no "howlers," the dialog is never precious nor pompous nor pretentious, and when heard in Italian, is, like every element of Antonioni's works, determined, controlled, but completely natural, credible. No movie ever made has been less "misogynistic," and the fictional director in the film and the director of the film speak with such candor it's exhilarating. A must-see.

Masterpiece that Stoned Hipsters will Hate because they have no Intellect

[arfdawg-1 · 9/10 · 3 June 2015]

The Plot.

The movie director Niccolo has just been left by his wife.

This gives him the idea of making a movie about women's relationships.

He starts to search for a woman who can play the leading part in the movie - but also in his own life.

I love Antonioni. Every frame has meaning. But his films also require time and concentration.

Many today would find them boring and slow.

Count this movie one of them. But I really love it. It's beautiful to look at and sucks you in slowly. It takes it's time for the plot to unfold and maybe it's not going to tie up loose ends. That's what makes it so compelling. You can watch it a hundred times and find something new each time.