Have a good deal of appreciation for Michaelangelo Antonioni, although he is not one of my favourite directors he did many good to great films ('La Notte', 'L'avventura', 'L'Eclisse', 'Le Amiche' and 'The Passenger' being my favourites). It is very easy to understand though why his films and style doesn't connect with all. His films have interesting themes, always look wonderful and his directing style is unique, yet one can understand with some of his films ('Zabriskie Point' for instance) that elements alienate some as much as they fascinate others.
A late film of his (his feature film swan-song), and the first to be made after his debilitating stroke a decade earlier, 'Beyond the Clouds' really isn't Antonioni at his best. Actually found it a major disappointment and one of my least favourites of his. There are good things to be had sure, none of Antonioni's films were irredeemable, but 'Beyond the Clouds' was an example of a film of his that both perplexed and alienated me and failed to connect with me on most levels. This is being said with the heaviest of hearts, no nastiness in any way intended. It is always brave when someone tries to bounce back after something bad/traumatic happens to them, and Antonioni does deserve some admiration in this respect, but it just feels like everything that made his best work so great and what made him such a fine director at his best was gone. Despite the themes, this to me didn't feel like Antonioni, and we are talking about the feel of the film here rather than the interestingly atypical "series of short stories" structure.
'Beyond the Clouds' has its plus points. Its best asset is the production values, with the cinematography visually being stunning and a perfect complement for the beautiful, atmospheric scenery and Sophie Marceau's envious sensuality. The music fits with the atmosphere in a way that's sensual, elegiac and haunting.
Irene Jacob gives a touching, sincere performance in her story, which is the best in the film and for me the only one that works because it did have emotional impact and was engaging. As said, Marceau looks gorgeous.
However, 'Beyond the Clouds' is largely problematic. It feels very disjointed and does feel like a series of short stories (which it is) cobbled together without much cohesion and barely connected together. Of the stories, only the last works, the first two especially were very dull and often insultingly ridiculous, not to mention paper thin and occasionally confusing. Complete with sensual scenes that weren't really but instead felt stiff, silly and needlessly repetitive. Felt little emotional depth and while there were some interesting ideas and themes they were all very flimsily explored and never goes below surface level. The stories are linked together loosely by links with John Malkovich, and they fared even worse. The whole film had dialogue that tended to ramble and waffle, but the dialogue in these scenes took rambling to a whole new level and a lot of it was vague.
These linking scenes were another big reason as to why 'Beyond the Clouds' felt so disjointed, because they felt like they belonged elsewhere and thrown in into this film for padding reasons. The pace was often very sluggish, especially in the first half, and Antonioni's direction felt very indifferent. The characters never feel real or have anything to make one be interested or engaged in them, the way they behave inducing face palms. Excepting Jacob, the acting is sub-par at best with Malkovich's out of kilter hamminess being particularly hard to take.
Overall, fleeting redeeming merits but ultimately disappointing. Shame that Antonioni's feature film swan-song was also one of his biggest failures, really did want to like it but sorry it just wasn't for me. 4/10 Bethany Cox
A late film of his (his feature film swan-song), and the first to be made after his debilitating stroke a decade earlier, 'Beyond the Clouds' really isn't Antonioni at his best. Actually found it a major disappointment and one of my least favourites of his. There are good things to be had sure, none of Antonioni's films were irredeemable, but 'Beyond the Clouds' was an example of a film of his that both perplexed and alienated me and failed to connect with me on most levels. This is being said with the heaviest of hearts, no nastiness in any way intended. It is always brave when someone tries to bounce back after something bad/traumatic happens to them, and Antonioni does deserve some admiration in this respect, but it just feels like everything that made his best work so great and what made him such a fine director at his best was gone. Despite the themes, this to me didn't feel like Antonioni, and we are talking about the feel of the film here rather than the interestingly atypical "series of short stories" structure.
'Beyond the Clouds' has its plus points. Its best asset is the production values, with the cinematography visually being stunning and a perfect complement for the beautiful, atmospheric scenery and Sophie Marceau's envious sensuality. The music fits with the atmosphere in a way that's sensual, elegiac and haunting.
Irene Jacob gives a touching, sincere performance in her story, which is the best in the film and for me the only one that works because it did have emotional impact and was engaging. As said, Marceau looks gorgeous.
However, 'Beyond the Clouds' is largely problematic. It feels very disjointed and does feel like a series of short stories (which it is) cobbled together without much cohesion and barely connected together. Of the stories, only the last works, the first two especially were very dull and often insultingly ridiculous, not to mention paper thin and occasionally confusing. Complete with sensual scenes that weren't really but instead felt stiff, silly and needlessly repetitive. Felt little emotional depth and while there were some interesting ideas and themes they were all very flimsily explored and never goes below surface level. The stories are linked together loosely by links with John Malkovich, and they fared even worse. The whole film had dialogue that tended to ramble and waffle, but the dialogue in these scenes took rambling to a whole new level and a lot of it was vague.
These linking scenes were another big reason as to why 'Beyond the Clouds' felt so disjointed, because they felt like they belonged elsewhere and thrown in into this film for padding reasons. The pace was often very sluggish, especially in the first half, and Antonioni's direction felt very indifferent. The characters never feel real or have anything to make one be interested or engaged in them, the way they behave inducing face palms. Excepting Jacob, the acting is sub-par at best with Malkovich's out of kilter hamminess being particularly hard to take.
Overall, fleeting redeeming merits but ultimately disappointing. Shame that Antonioni's feature film swan-song was also one of his biggest failures, really did want to like it but sorry it just wasn't for me. 4/10 Bethany Cox