Il Grido

1957, pretty early Michelangelo Antonioni
deep framings, distance between characters
leads to long takes, no mucking about, hardly any shot/reverse
often very long shots. Mist, scattered lighting from various effects
space is simply made, a few moments of more Antonioni-esque deliberate mashing
interesting framings
long takes mean that speaker/ character often obscured. Dislocation
certain scenes use vertical line to frame Aldo. Focus on him rather than women
Antonioni's wandering character
constant music slightly offputting
more neorealist of course, jobs. Framed in wider context at the end
not pastoral wandered through, but wastleand, sparsely populated, grotesques, with encroaching industry. Horrible dirt.
also an existential parable, of the role of Aldo. Sometimes, for a scene or two, he becomes peripheral. Nice kind of focussed, but occasionally floating narration
female characters as confusing him, wanting something different
a meditative film, Antonioni developed on it, but still out as excellent on its own
with some wonderful images; around the late night diner, two or three sharp lighting
So this is not the work of a mature master, but an earlier display far beyond most