Time Out
Criticising an Antonioni film for being slow and insular risks missing the point, but there’s a shallow emptiness to ‘Zabriskie Point’ that can’t be forgiven.
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Zabriskie Point
Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni dives into the counterculture of 1970 America in this tale that opens with student debates and campus protests. From there, it detours into a psychedelic orgy and concludes with the literal demolition of Western materialism in the Death Valley location of the same name. Features the music of Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones and Roy Orbison.
After participating in a campus debate about an upcoming protest, Mark (Mark Frechette) proposes more violent action and soon finds himself at a confrontation between cops and students at which an officer is shot. Escaping the scene, Mark steals a plane and flies to the desert where he meets stoner teen Daria (Daria Halpin). The pair make their way to Zabriskie Point and make out while the rocky formations come alive in copulation around them (a scene paid homage in the Smashing Pumpkins video Today). Mark returns to Los Angeles soon after, and Daria heads to the home of her boss, where she experiences a series of explosive visions.
Less1970Rating: M107 minsUSA
Drama
- Director:
- Michelangelo Antonioni ('Blow-Up', 'L'Avventura', 'La Notte')
- Writer:
- Michelangelo AntonioniFranco RossettiSam ShepardTonino GuerraClare Peploe
- Cast:
- Mark FrechetteDaria HalprinPaul FixG.D. SpradlinBill GarawayKathleen CleaverRod Taylor
Zabriskie Point | Reviews
66%29 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
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Roger Ebert
[Antonioni] has tried to make a serious movie and hasn't even achieved a beach-party level of insight.
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Little White Lies
At the time of release it tanked spectacularly and was widely slammed by critics for not making basic logistical sense, perhaps a failing by some to grasp that realism was never part of Antonioni's creative purview.
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