Identificazione di una donna (1982)

Director:

Michelangelo Antonioni

Writers:

Michelangelo Antonioni (story)
Michelangelo Antonioni (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

21 October 1982 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

The movie director Niccolo has just been left by his wife. This gives him the idea of making a movie about womens relationships...

Plot Keywords:

Director | Female Frontal Nudity | Rome Italy | Materialism | Italy

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Tomas Milian	...	Niccolò
Daniela Silverio	...	Mavi
Christine Boisson	...	Ida
Lara Wendel	...	Girl in swimming pool
Veronica Lazar	...	Carla
Enrica Antonioni	...	Nadia (as Enrica Fico)
Sandra Monteleoni	...	Mavi's sister
Marcel Bozzuffi	...	Mario
Gianpaolo Saccarola	...	The gorilla
Arianna De Rosa	...	Mavi's friend
Dado Ruspoli	...	Mavi's father (as Alessandro Ruspoli)
Carlos Alberto Valles	...	Close-up man (as Carlos Valles)
Sergio Tardioli	...	Butcher
Itaco Nardulli	...	Lucio
Paola Dominguín	...	Girl in window
Pier Francesco Aiello	...	Young man at party (as Pierfrancesco Aiello)
Giada Gerini	...	Landlady
Luisa Della Noce	...	Mavi's mother
Stefania D'Amario	...	Landlady's friend (as Maria Stefania D'Amario)

Directed by
Michelangelo Antonioni

Writing credits
Michelangelo Antonioni		(story)
Michelangelo Antonioni		(screenplay) &
Gérard Brach		(screenplay)
Tonino Guerra		(scenario collaborator)

Produced by
Antonio Macri	....	producer (as Antonio Macrì)
Giorgio Nocella	....	producer
Renzo Rossellini	....	associate producer
Alessandro von Norman	....	executive producer (as Alessandro von Normann)

Original Music by
John Foxx

Cinematography by
Carlo Di Palma

Film Editing by
Michelangelo Antonioni

Production Design by
Andrea Crisanti

Costume Design by
Paola Comencini

Production Management
Franco Ballati	....	production manager
Lynn Kamern	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gianni Arduini	....	assistant director (as Giovanni Arduini)

Art Department
Antonio Tarolla	....	assistant art director
Massimo Tavazzi	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Michael Billingsley	....	sound editor
Mario Bramonti	....	sound engineer
Fernando Caso	....	sound effects editor
Alvaro Gramigna	....	sound effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Massimo Di Venanzo	....	camera operator
Michele Picciaredda	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Fiorenza Muller	....	assistant editor
Giovanna Ritter	....	second assistant editor

Other crew
Violetta Coata	....	production secretary
Lorenzo Errico	....	production secretary
Renata Franceschi	....	script supervisor
Enzo Lucarini	....	administrator (as Vincenzo Lucarini)

Production Companies

• Iterfilm (as Iter Film S.p.A.)
• Gaumont (Paris)
• Radiotelevisione Italiana (in collaboration with)

Distributors

• SACIS (1981) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Gaumont (1982) (France) (theatrical)
• DNC Entertainment (2003) (Italy) (DVD)
• Facets Multimedia Distribution (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Homescreen (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Mr Bongo Films (2008) (UK) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Annamode  costumes (as Anna Mode)
• Cine Audio Effects  sound effects and foley design
• Rocchetti e Carboni  wigs
• Virgin Music Publishing  music publishing

Also Known As:

Identification d'une femme (France)
Identification of a Woman (USA)
Identificación de una mujer (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Egy nö azonosítása (Hungary) [hu]
I taftotita mias gynaikas (Greece) [el]
Identificação de Uma Mulher (Portugal) [pt]
Identifikation einer Frau (West Germany) [de]

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian | English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Italy:VM14 | Argentina:16 | Singapore:R21 | Australia:R | Sweden:11 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Iterfilm

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa # 78159 delivered on 12-10-1982.

Quotes:

Niccolo: What some people will do for ice cream.

Soundtrack:

Skogstillhet

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

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 subsequently 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!).