Antonionis actors – David Forgacs
Face, body, voice and movement are 3 pinnacle divisions of acting. In order to achieve a good performance actors have to bring all of these elements together seamlessly to create 1 cohesive and comprehensive character. Michelangelo Antiononi had a very specific way of dealing with his actors. He put emphasis on them as the important and focal point of the screen. He was seen as an actors director whose primary focus was on getting the most authentic performance out of his actors rather then constructing a film scene and requiring the actors to fit into it. Antonioni was a big fan of the method acting technique, requiring actors to genuinely experience the emotions of their character in order to make their performance real and believable. He withheld information from actor Massimo Girotti to keep him in a state of confusion and uncertainty. This would then subconsciously translate it to his character on screen. He slapped actress Lucia Bose to ‘undermine her natural cheerfulness and make her cry.’ Antonioni considered actors as ‘moving space’ He would often not explain his decisions to actors but expected them to obey. Selfish or self aware? Antonioni would retreat into his own little world during the production of his films maybe in order to achieve a clear mind set and remove himself from his life and other distractions or infiltrations. Antonioni liked to carefully coordinate and choreograph everything, including his actors. This method assumes that it is difficult for humans to draw the line between acting and real life. Therefore they must blur the lines and experience these emotions and events in their real life in order to portray it on screen.