Zabriskie Point (1970)

Wow, this has not dated well AT ALL. Michelangelo Antonioni meant to criticize hollow American consumerism, but he got lost inside his hollow European formalism, so it's difficult to say what the message might be (if indeed there is one). Moreover, the lead actors Antonioni hired, chosen I guess for their looks and their iconic appearance as 'hippie youths', have all the appeal and talent of a grapefruit. Marble-mouthed and stilted, they can't help but look silly surrounded by their self-conciously 'with-it' dialogue and the capitalistic signifiers in the mise-en-scene that never go beyond being simply signifiers. Antonioni dislikes what he sees as the materialistic hedonism of the American lifestyle, but he never bothers to tell us why -- it's apparently just important enough that he dislikes it. And normally, I'd be on his side, but it's exactly that kind of pompous, condescending strand of social criticism that makes me think the conservatives might be on to something after all. Think about what Von Trier could have done with this film.

Grade: C-