INGMAR BERGMAN - DIRECTOR ANTONIONI DEAD AT 94

Just one day after the announcement of the death of Ingmar Bergman, officials in Rome announced the death at age 94 of another legendary director, Michelangelo Antonioni. "With Antonioni dies not only one of the greatest directors but also a master of modernity," Walter Veltroni, the mayor of Rome, said in the announcement. Antonioni directed both Italian- and English-language features, including the 1960 classic L'avventura and the 1966 Oscar-nominated Blowup. Despite being largely incapacitated by a stroke in 1983, he continued directing films. In 1994, barely able to speak and appearing frail, he directed John Malkovich, Jeremy Irons, Irene Jacob and Fanny Ardant in Beyond the Clouds, often using a note pad to communicate with the cast and crew. In 1995, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded him an Oscar for lifetime achievement.


31/07/2007