Criterion Collection: Identification of a Woman [Blu-ray] [1982] [US Import]

It's churlish to complain that Identification of a Woman isn't the equal of L'Avventura, La Notte, Red Desert, Blow Up, Zabriskie Point, or The Passenger. If it was, it would be a masterpiece of European art cinema. While it perhaps falls a little short of those Antonioni high points, it's nonetheless an intriguing and beautiful piece of work in its own right. The customary Antonioni themes - the elusiveness of desire, the fragility of identity, the mysteries of visual perspective, the unreliability of knowledge - are explored in typically elliptical and aleatory fashion, and lead towards a characteristically inconclusive but bafflingly moving ending. And along the way there are scenes that are the equal of Antonioni's best for mood, atmosphere and sheer cinematic creativity and skill. Niccolo and Mavi's drive into the fog is a scene of brilliant mystery and power. Their climb up the stairs of a swanky villa to an elite Roman soiree is an object lesson in how to use the camera and editing to generate a sense of foreboding and philosophical unease out of the simplest of materials. Niccolo and Ida's voyage out onto a Venetian lake is a gorgeous metaphor for their unfathomable relationship. And if anyone can tell me what that mysterious object in the tree - to which Antonioni keeps drawing us back - outside Niccolo's window is all about, I'd be grateful. The animated final scene of the film, which some viewers find a let-down, is brilliant - almost the equal in conception and weird appropriateness to the endings of Blow Up or Zabriskie Point. This is a film which improves with every viewing and ought to be embraced as the last significant work of a great master.

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!

Identification of a Woman is an Italian film about an Italian director. I find the director, Niccolo (Tomas Milian), to be an interesting character as he is both artistic and intelligent, yet not a push over. The story begins when Niccolo gets a call from a mysterious man that wants to meet with him. When Niccolo sees him, he gives Niccolo a very vague threat about continuing to see a particular woman will result in some kind of trouble. Shortly later, Niccolo begins a passionate affair with a younger woman named Mavi (Daniela Silverio). Although Mavi says she doesn't know much about Niccolo, I would say she is even more mysterious. I also found it mysterious that he got a threat about not seeing her before he met her (and I watched it three times to confirm that this is the sequence of events). In the big scheme of things, this is a minor detail and shouldn't be worried about too much.

But the mysteries only grow in this film. Mavi disappears after some time of dealing with the stalkers spying on Niccolo and having to make their affair secretive. So as intense as their passions were for each other, the flames between Mavi and Niccolo seem to be extinguished abruptly, which isn't acceptable at all for Niccolo. He is driven to find out what happened and who was behind the threats. Niccolo then meets another woman named Ida (Christine Boisson) that not only helps him put some closure to the mystery, but also becomes his new girlfriend. Ida is quite different than Mavi and presents Niccolo with a situation in which he must decide if he wants to continue their relationship.

What is fascinating about the movie is that the story is basically normal, but it is also bizarre.... While everything that happens isn't too far from everyday events, they are also pretty extraordinary. I found Identification of a Woman to be a intriguing movie, but it also came up short because it left a few details unanswered. Although those these questions left in our mind may have been intentional, as they provide us with quite a bit to ponder, I still would have preferred more concrete answers. Read more ›

A film director receives mysterious threats to end his affair with a young aristocrat woman. The woman then disappears. The director (& his next girlfriend) try to find the missing woman.
As might be evident from that brief synopsis, "Identification" is a half-hearted replay of the plot of Antonioni's breakthrough film "L'Avventura" - which is ironic as "Identification" turned out to be Antonioni's last proper film (before his debilitating stroke). There was a very long gap between "Identification" and the previous film "The Passenger" - that film was probably his peak & he may have realised it would be difficult to match & so lost heart & enthusiasm as he moved into old age.
With "Identification" Antonioni seems to have all but lost his grip as a director. The film breaks his usual rules and includes pointless voiceovers & flashbacks (& even an animated sci-fi ending!). Typical Antonioni ingredients are here but they border on self-parody (especially the heavy-handed dialogue). The film gained notoriety when released because of its sex scenes but the whole approach is surely that of a tired old man - the passionate love all these young women have for the morose ageing film director character lacks any credibility. Basically, the film prefigures the equally patchy "Beyond the Clouds" (made post-stroke with Wim Wenders).
I suppose the best thing that can be said is that Antonioni had always tried to capture the zeitgeist of each decade & here he makes a valiant attempt to capture the 1980s (rampant capitalism, heroin epidemic etc) complete with classic 80s clothes & haircuts & a synthi-pop soundtrack featuring Ultravox, Japan etc.
The DVD is ok - Mr Bongo have managed not to mess this one up, though the subtitle translations are sometimes laughably inept.