Can’t think of any shots where she’s actually exposed (topless, but covered by her arms, yes?) in either the MGM DVD or the old VHS….never got a look at the Criterion Laserdisc, but never presumed I was seeing a censored version. Sure this isn’t confusion about censorship of the “roll in the hay” scene with Jane Birkin?
Well, I take it all back:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare6/blowup-censored.htm
So, I’ve never seen this version mentioned here, nor do I know if it’s currently available anywhere.
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare6/blowup-censored.htm
Conflicting arguments revolved around the fact that Antonioni did not intend for her breasts to be seen originally, but I’m not sure.
Also, why is there so much hate for this film? I enjoy Blow-Up immensely along with his Antonioni’s four films with Monica Vitti. There seems to be a bandwagon of people with vehement hatred for Blow-Up, which does not exist for his other films. I figure that perhaps it stems from the fact that this film has more recognition among more casual film viewers than his Italian films. Thus, many people who don’t understand Antonioni are likely to watch and not get it. Therefore, they slam it for being a plotless film in which “nothing happens”.
Right,it seemed to be Antonioni’s most “normal” film up to then, but the ending threw a lot of people off guard.
The film had quite a buzz, MGM marketed it like a big production so lots of people saw it.
There seems to be even more hate for Zabrieski Point.
Man, reading that article just pissed me off at Warner! I can’t believe they thought it would be okay to censor that. I hope someone is able to do the uncut version in the US sometime soon.
Some accounts have said that those breasts were not in fact intended to be in the print, and that showing the breasts was not a mistake. They were shown with a 1:66 aspect ratio but the 1:85 ratio is the intended one, and does not show her breasts in that shot.
I originally thought that this thread was going to be about the supposed “beaver” shots of teenybopper pubic hair in the romp scene in the photographer’s studio. If there is any view of female genitalia in that scene, it’s probably shorter (the scene, not the hair) than the infamous Sharon Stone shot in BASIC INSTINCT.
Incidentally, in that same BLOW-UP scene, there’s a brief view of a crewmember’s (clothed) legs.
Finally, Francisco J. Torres is correct: BLOW-UP was Antonioni’s most successful film at the international box office. But as Godard once said, “Whenever an artistically conceived film becomes a commercial success, it means that there has been … a big misunderstanding.” :-)
Frank, what can you say about the scene with Vanessa Redgrave’s breats? Did Michelangelo Antonioni not intend for them to be shown even though they were included in certain cuts of the film?
Totally possible, depending on the intended theatrical framing. But this whole situation sounds fishy, especially the example cited in the dvdbeaver article about the blurred-out crotch shot.
Rossi
? I’ve heard conflicting arguments regarding the censorship during the scene where Vanessa Redgrave’s breasts are supposedly exposed.