Michelangelo Antonioni

In the 1960s and 1970s, Michelangelo Antonioni (1912-2007) forged a cinematic language that reflected a changed, postwar world. His early successes, including L'avventura (1960) and La notte (1961), reshaped film drama by focusing so intently on characters (particularly couples) that plot was often a secondary concern. He also moved away from the social realism of his Italian peers. His most notable English-language films, from Blow Up (1966) to Zabriskie Point (1970), engage contemporary politics and modern social alienation.