Master of expressive abstraction

Jack Nicholson, left, presents an honorary Oscar to director Michelangelo Antonioni in recognition of his achievements as a master visual stylist at the 67th annual Academy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Monday, March 27, 1995. (AP )

Within a few hours of the death of Ingmar Bergman, one of the most innovative and distinctive film-makers of the 20th century, had died at the age of 94. He was Michelangelo Antonioni. Along with Fellini, Antonioni was the symbol of the newly emerging style which was to mark a departure with the "neorealist" style that flourished in Italy at the end of the Second World War.

James Brown described Antonioni’s film making as “aesthetically complex – critically stimulating though elusive in meaning. They are ambiguous works that pose difficult questions and resist simple conclusions. Classical narrative causalities are dissolved in favour of expressive abstraction. Displaced dramatic action leads to the creation of a stasis occupied by vague feelings, moods and ideas.”

Antonioni dealt with a different set of themes which were in contrast to those in fashion in the aftermath of the World War II. His films were centred on the experiences of an alienated bourgeoisie. Though he began film-making in 1950, he rose to fame internationally with the release of L'Avventura in 1960. The film is considered a classic.

Blowup, the film made waves in England and Sri Lanka when it was shown. That success enabled him to direct in the United States, making Zabriskie Point in 1970. He then went on to direct Jack Nicholson in The Passenger in 1975. A severe stroke confined him to the wheelchair. Unable to speak, he continued to work, directing Beyond the Clouds in 1995. This was to be the last of his films.

Unlike Bergman, Antonioni was honored by a Lifetime Achievement Oscar award. Fittingly it was presented to him by his friend Jack Nicholson in Hollywood. As with Bergman, Antonioni is a film legend who will live on in the works of art he created.