Identification of a Woman (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

An underated masterpiece. I remember watching it the first time when it came out in early 80's. Next day I did go again to watch for a second time in the theater and not only because I was already a big admirer of the Great Italian fimaker, which was true. It was because you can read it at so many levels and as a young man spoke to my heart. I could identify with the broken relationships and the isolation and despair of our times. Two different women, two different worlds, intersecting in one man, who is relating to them through his quest for his art and who is abandoning them because of his continuous quest of his art. Like the spaceship, which is attracted by the sun, but which will pass it and go beyond it with all the new learning aquired, as much painful as it may be, in an eternal journey in space and time....

Being an Antonioni fan I was excited to see this film available on Blu-Ray. The product did not disappoint. This is a mesmerizing study of familiar Antonioni themes (women, love & sex, the creative process, etc.). The film is beautiful, one of Antonioni's most beautifully filmed, of particular note is his use of windows, both looking out of them and reflecting from them. I love the film but would not recommend it for those unfamiliar with Antonioni's other great films. His films are typically enigmatic and often start slowly. In the beginning, for example, I was unsure of the casting and acting of Tomas Milian. Eventually, however, as the themes became clearer he seemed an excellent choice. Antonioni's genius for beautiful location filming is very much on display here as well with beautiful shots of Rome, the Italian countryside, and Venice. The accompanying essay and interview are excellent, but they are the only special features. I think the film deserves more.

A director's search for a female character to inspire his nextfilm is frustrated by his loss of two lovers. The first leaves him foranother woman. The second presents him with the unexpected result of a previous relationship. Bastardy makes wholehearted commitment difficult in both relationships. The theme of uncertain parentage extends, especially in the film's first half hour, to how one scene follows from another. Which director, Antonioni or his character, is calling the shots? They find agreement in the greater theme: how love and sex form an oblique angle to one another. Antonion wrote, directed, and edited this film. His mastery of the medium is evident everywhere. American viewers can finally see a key piece in the progress of a great artist's work.

A late period masterpiece from the great Italian auteur Michelangelo Antonioni, an exploration of of many of his favourite themes in the story of a separated film director, in search of a partner, a concept, love, the subject and star for a film maybe, ideas that beautifully dissipate and reform rather than crystallise in concrete conclusions... A marvellous meditation on man & woman in the modern world, matched by a superb transfer by the Criterion Collection...

Never saw this film before and I loved itRealy pops in Blu Ray

I was terribly disappointed with this DVD. The advertising on AMAZON was not at all clear that the disk could NOT be played on US DVD players. It is not compatible with our format, and I think this should be absolutely clear on the website. It simply says FormatI cannot review the film in any way. I feel that the site implicitly misrepresented the disk. I have bee: PAL and ALL REGIONS. I now understand that the average customer is supposed to know from this that "regions" does not been all countries. It would have saved me time and annoyance if the incompatibility with US DVD players was clear.

High Quality Upgrade to High-Definition Blu-Ray Format.

Without any problems.

first, let`s make this straight, this film deserves 5 stars. it`s this dvd that gets 3 for the simple fact that on the back cover there are mentioned extras like an interview with tonino guerra that is just not there. the image itself is not that bad but feels like a bit too much compression was applied.

Maybe not as great as L'Avventura or La Notte, but still a great film. As in L'Avventura a girl disappears, and as in La Notte the protagonist is a director searching for a (new) woman to love. I liked this movie, the acting is good, the characters are interesting, the plot is captivating and the ending is ambiguous. And for about 7GBP it is good value for money. The transfer is good, though there are no extras. If you like Antonioni, you should buy/watch this one. Recommended!

DVD consegnato con la solita puntualita`; bella la grafica della copertina; ottima la qualita`delle immagini e del sonoro, il formato del video occupa tutto lo schermo. L'ultimo film interamente diretto da Michelangelo Antonioni si avvale della presenza magnetica e al tempo stesso straniante di un attore grandissimo (Tomas Milian) e purtroppo poco compreso dai grandi cineasti a lui contemporanei. Il film e`un compendio delle straordinarie abilita tecniche e narrative di un regista che ha gia` oltrepassato la maturita`da tempo e che fa ormai quello che vuole con il mezzo cinematografico. Attraverso le immagini e le scelte musicali, Antonioni crea una opera d'arte POP che sintetizza e aggiorna il suo stile e al tempo stesso riassume e oltrepassa gli anni ottanta. "Identificazione di una donna" e`uno di quei film che chi ama il cinema d'autore desidera scoprire e guardare per sorprendersi ancora una volta... Assolutamente imperdibile!

Vorab: Der Abzug eines Sternes bezieht sich auf die miserable englische Uebersetzung der Untertitel und deren extrem kurze Einblendung. Um auf diese verzichten zu können, sind allerdings sehr gute Italienischkenntnisse erforderlich.Zum Film: Wie bei Antonioni üblich, entspricht der Film einem Vexierbild, dessen Facetten sich dem Zuschauer insbesondere beim wiederholten Betrachten eröffnen. Schon der Titel ist zwiespältig: Anstatt das "Wesen einer Frau" zu ergründen, "identifiziert" sich im Film der Protagonist Niccolo, ein Filmemacher, selbst als "Mann". Das "Rätselhafte" an Frauen hat Männer seit jeher beschäftigt und Niccolo hat bei seinem Unterfangen eine ziemlich ungünstige Ausgangslage: 1. Er wurde kürzlich geschieden (davon erfährt man erst in der zweiten Hälfte des Films), 2. Er sucht nach einer geeigneten Besetzung der weiblichen Hauptrolle eines Filmprojektes, 3. Er wird bedroht, seine Beziehung zur Geliebten Mavi abzubrechen. Diese kann (?) bzw. will (?) den Hintergrund dieser Bedrohung nicht aufklären. Letzterer Umstand beeinflusst Niccolos Wahrnehmung zusätzlich und löst bei ihm Misstrauen aus. Die Bilder, insbesondere die Autofahrt im Nebel, unterstützen den Eindruck Niccolos fehlenden "Durchblicks". Er weiss also selbst nicht, welche "Rolle" er einer Frau zuordnen soll. Er schwärmt u. a. von der Beziehung eines Terroristenpaares, bei welchem die Frau Ehe und Kind aufgegeben hat, um einem "übergeordneten Ziel" zu dienen. Dadurch würde eine "vollkommene" Solidarität erzielt. Gegen Ende des Films kommt er (vorübergehend) zu der Erkenntnis, dass man "zuerst" (vor des Verliebtseins) heiraten solle, damit sich die Beziehung dann besser "entwickeln" könne.Niccolos Verhalten ist grundsätzlich kontrolliert. Seine innere Zerrissenheit bzw. Nervosität wird nur durch kurze Szenen dokumentiert: die latente Suche nach dem Plot seines projektierten Filmes, die Suche nach Kleinigkeiten wie Schlüssel, Zigaretten, dem Sohn versprochene Briefmarken, verlegte Fotos etc.Die von Rezensenten bei amazon.co.uk erkannten Parallelen zu Antonionis "L'Avventura" kann ich nicht nachvollziehen: Der Hauptteil von "L'Avventura" befasst sich mit der Suche nach der auf einer Insel verschollenen Frau, die Suche nach Mavi, die sich schliesslich (aktiv) vor Niccolo versteckt hält, macht bei "Identification of a woman" nur einen kleinen Teil aus.Fazit: Ein Film auf den man sich "einlassen" muss. Er dürfte besonders Menschen (Männer ?) ansprechen, welche in ihren Beziehungen "Enttäuschungen" erlebt haben und die dann bei einigen Dialogen einen "déjà-vu-Effekt" erleben.

antonioni's movie from the 80thies. My list of three: red dessert, il grido, identification of a woman. Very enigmatic movie. Main character in not very nice character, very snobish and egocentric. Both female characters are very sensual and modern - the first one aristocratic, the second one humble looking. I recommend this movie to all lovers of italian or french intelectual movies - a profound aestetic experience that shows emptiness of modern urban life, boredom of middle class and quest for earthly pleasures so best experience this when being a student examining existencial questions and looking for new friends and love.