“I can’t get enough of it”: the movie John Carpenter calls the perfect enigma
Despite his position as one of genre cinema’s most prominent legends, John Carpenter didn’t grow up harbouring dreams of making sci-fi, horror, or fantasy stories, even if he proved himself to be better at it than most.
The Western was his first and truest love, with Carpenter a massive fan of Howard Hawks, John Wayne, and Clint Eastwood in particular. Assault on Precinct 13 was packed full of references to Rio Bravo, Kurt Russell’s Snake Plissken was ripped from the ‘Man with No Name’ mould, and the actor’s Jack Burton was directly inspired by ‘The Duke’, albeit with an idiotic spin.
Carpenter has also named Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo among his favourite movies, so the ‘Master of Horror’ isn’t exactly averse to the recognised classics. Death, despair, and mystery have been repeated hallmarks of his work, which makes it fitting that Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up is right up there as one of his most unforgettable viewing experiences.
The legendary director’s first feature filmed entirely in English stars David Hemmings as a London-based fashion photographer who may have inadvertently snapped a murder. When Vanessa Redgrave’s Jane appears and demands the images, he ends up being drawn into a conspiratorial game of cat-and-mouse with potentially deadly implications.
Describing it as “a brilliant film” to Rotten Tomatoes, Carpenter also called Blow-Up “kind of a perfect enigmatic example” of what a movie could be. “I just love that movie,” he said. “I can’t get enough of it. It’s so strange!” The atmosphere created by Antonioni is intentionally disconcerting and voyeuristic, leaving the audience to question just how much of what the protagonist is experiencing is unequivocally real or the wanderings of his imagination.
Carpenter further lauded Blow-Up for creating “a particular mood and feeling that is unlike anything else I’ve ever seen”, especially for how the story is repeatedly found “questioning what’s real and what’s not” as both the characters and the viewers debate whether or not Hemmings’ Thomas really did make himself the accidental witness to a cold-blooded killing.
A true titan of international cinema who became the first director to win the Palme d’Or from Cannes, the Golden Lion from Venice, the Golden Bear from Berlin, and the Golden Leopard from Locarno, Antonioni’s legacy is much greater than that of a festival darling. He was one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his time, with Jack Nicholson just one of many heavyweight talents on either side of the camera to join Carpenter in celebrating his contributions to the world of cinema.
Blow-Up was a phenomenal way of blowing away any doubts people may have had over Antonioni’s transition into the English-language arena, and it made a lasting impression on Carpenter.