5 Films That Make You Feel Smart

Blow Up (1966, Michelangelo Antonioni)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f31mj_afO4w&w=622&h=390%5D

Filled with silences, long-takes, and metaphysical gestures, Antonioni’s only box-office hit is a must see that demands erudition and serious contemplation. David Hemmings plays a vapid, nihilistic, and disaffected fashion photographer who discovers a startling secret when he blows up a series of his photographs. In describing the movie, you can use words like “alienation.” It is based on a short story of the same name by Julio Cortázar, an author who smart people read. The final scene, a mimed tennis match, goes down as one of the best in cinema history.

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