Zabriskie Point: Blowing Up and Breaking Down 

What's so great about "What's So Great About That?" ? Everything.

Great video! I watched this film in the context of a class about global cinema in the 60's, and I think right before this we watched Medium Cool. It's amazing to see how directors of that time were really obsessing over how a text is interpreted, what the medium itself means, how it relates to culture. There was a lot of criticism that Antonioni was an outsider, but I think his not being American really gave him an advantage in distilling the contradictions of the day into something viscerally disquieting. I'd been thinking of doing a video covering this film, but you've done a much better job than I would have! Keep up the great work.

Fantastic stuff as always! I always appreciate how you dive deep into subjects not often covered in videos.

God I just stumbled upon your channel and I'm just blown away. Folk Horror, Ben Wheatley, Antonioni, Lynch and even Utopia I don't think I've ever fallen so quickly in love with a channel. How the hell has it taken me this long to find you!

I enjoyed your interpretation. Certainly more interesting than other reviews that are out there; most reviews for this film are atrocious. I found myself having a similar interpretation for this film. I think it comes from the fact that I am priorly acquainted with Antonioni's work and I knew what to expect going into it. The isolation of the characters and their contrast to the environment is a signature is something that stuck out to me in this film and I thought this belonged with the rest of his greater known films.

Ah the pleasure of feeling less alone in the desert that is zabriskie-point-appreciation!

Wow what the heck that was beautiful! thank you

Oh. So that’s what a desert is. Thanks. I wasn’t sure until now.

A deep thought provoking thesis of a film that over 50 years later still divides opinions but ultimately generates the process of evaluation in an increasingly complex understanding of what's the message its trying to convey. Alternate views may reveal a road movie on steroids where the 2 lead actors lack of any experience seem to offer a benefit to the viewer amidst the sand dunes and great soundtrack accompaniment . The ability to see chaos from different angles is brought into sharp focus with a catastrophic obliteration of everything that once existed .

Wonderful film! The shallow script was fully eclipsed by the cinematography and the atmosphere. The interaction of Mark and Daria within the desert landscapes was, by itself, worth the price of admission! Being alive during those days gives one the added benefit of both insight and also hindsight. One thing for sure, they'll never come again!

There's a point in the movie where the female lead reads a landmark sign in the desert and it goes something like : "Zabriskie Point: An area of ancient lake beds deposited 10 million years ago. These beds have been tilted and pushed upwards by earthly forces..." I believe Antonioni was trying to depict the rise of powerful social forces that mold and shape our civilization just like the lake beds referenced in the title.

That was awesome. I really didn't get the film but this analysis made me look at it in a whole new perspective and now I want to watch all of the director's films.

Thank you so much narrator. Your voice is so soothing. Keep up the great work.

I randomly watched this years back late at night and it's always been at the back Of my head but I never could remember what channel it was, I somehow just couldn't find it.. Until now and I'm so happy and also wow what a great channel!

yes!! so excited to delve into this

Antonioni seems to be suggesting that meaning is something we artificially transpose on the universe. That man creates a separate imaginary universe at odds with nature. Our religions, philosophies, ideologies, even our movies are just there to hide the fact the universe is meaningless. That's why the desert must be conquered by capitalism or venerated by hippies because of its ultimate challenge to meaning. It's a vacuum that must be filled. Made to have meaning. Antonioni was basically an existentialist, but not one who took any emancipatory solace from the questioning of existence. Zabriskie Point ultimately has a pessimistic denouement, implying man's endless search for meaning will ultimately end in some apocalypse. An apocalypse which in of itself will have no real meaning in a cold indifferent universe.

Brilliant analysis thank you

I like how Scorsese used the desert that surrounded Las Vegas as a place where "problems were dealt with" and how the Las Vegas mobster's worst fate was to be buried in a hole in the desert. Used as visual and narrative devices to juxtapose the bright lights and glamour of Las Vegas to the desert that surrounds it and when Ace and Nicky have the blowout that basically ended their friendship in the desert - brilliant.

I really like your insight 'film within a film that plays out visually, becoming something more experimental'. The best way I can describe the feeling of watching an Antonioni film, is that I respond on a level I find hard to put into words. That other 'film within a film' develops meaning and becomes my reality. The conventional mechanics: the who, why and what are, in the end, not that significant. The impressions his films leave behind, as art, are significant and long lasting.

For the "Violent Scene", Pink Floyd had written an instrumental piece for it that Antonioni described as "great but too sad. sounds like church." The piece was shelved until the Dark Side of the Moon sessions when it was resurrected as "Us and Them".

Really Awesome! Thank you for this...

I have become an instant fan of your work. :)

A great discussion indeed! Keep Carry On! :-)

Finally, someone who shares my view on "Zabriskie Point".

Great video! Your transitions are so smooth, what do you edit in?

Thought provoking essay! I think the desert as filmic symbol should still be it's own video...perhaps you can revisit it in a part two. In the context of this film I think it's an interesting choice because the paving of the desert, and the migration of the middle class establishment to it as a refuge, is the ultimate bourgeois expression. Humanity has finally conquered the viciously inhospitable, and successfully put a golf course there. The two main characters are a man fed up with the inaction of the counter culture, and a woman who is literally in bed with the mainstream dominant culture. I can't think of a better way to explore the competing ideologies of that era. I'm left wondering what her motivations were though, in being the mistress to a wealthy developer. Was it a naive attempt at securing a part of the elusive American Dream for herself? Do the final scenes indicate that she has shed that naivety after her seemingly spiritual transformation in the desert with the young man? And what about him? He appears to give into the pressure of mainstream culture by making the decision to return the plane, knowing he might be killed or captured when he touches down. I took the ending as a bit of a hopeful downer. The two of them could have left together, but instead choose to face up to the facts. There is no stopping the machinery of progress. The destruction of the technocratic society of post war America is in the end just a fantasy she has...but she is changed nonetheless. I know Antonioni was sympathetic to left wing causes, but I can't help but think he is poking a little fun here at them, and their impracticality. The opening scenes between the students and the Black Panther leaders speak volumes...and with that I will depart with Gil Scott-Heron's thought...ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8B6DVdCzwy0.html

Hi, I found your video really thundering and lighting, may I ask who is the french man speaking at 9:20 and from where the interview extract comes ?

Quite interesting

You should watch Birds of Passage. Its desert fits a few of your ideas here

I don't think Antonioni was capable of making an ugly shot.

I really like this take on the movie. What Sam Sheperd says about "Zabriskie Point" then could well be said about "Joker" now. Politically, those films might serve as Rorschach tests; but that's kind of boring, when you can just free yourself of any partisan expectations and marvel at their intertextual and visual poetry instead.

I guess, definitely, you have a point there.

No. Title Writer(s) Artist Length 1. "Heart Beat, Pig Meat" David Gilmour/Roger Waters/Richard Wright/Nick Mason Pink Floyd 3:12 2. "Brother Mary" David Lindley Kaleidoscope 2:42 3. "Excerpt from Dark Star" Jerry Garcia/Mickey Hart/Robert Hunter/Bill Kreutzmann/Phil Lesh/Ron "Pigpen" McKernan/Bob Weir Grateful Dead 2:32 4. "Crumbling Land" Gilmour/Waters/Wright/Mason Pink Floyd 4:16 5. "Tennessee Waltz" Pee Wee King/Redd Stewart Patti Page 3:03 6. "Sugar Babe" Jesse Colin Young The Youngbloods 2:13 7. "Love Scene" Garcia Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) 7:02 8. "I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again" Roscoe Holcomb Roscoe Holcomb 1:56 9. "Mickey's Tune" Lindley Kaleidoscope 1:42 10. "Dance of Death" John Fahey John Fahey 2:43 11. "Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up" Gilmour/Waters/Wright/Mason Pink Floyd 5:01

algo bump

8:23 Here the narrator describes the downside of poor resolution.

Humankind has an obsession to place meaning and substance on the World in order to better understand its place in the World and Universe. I think Antonioni resists this in all his movies which serve to exemplify the ephemeral and meaningless of this search. In his eyes, we must accept the chaos around us and strive to live only as best we can for the short time we are here.

That 35 second animated part "captures perfectly our perception of the desert"??? No. It was shallow, impersonal, stupid, & dull. The desert is hypnotically beautiful & wondrous, graced at night with more stars than anyone can count. Anybody who thinks otherwise should try actually *visiting * it 4 a change.

Hmm, interesting interpretation. I personally found the movie to be very mid, as the kids say nowadays, and the only interesting part was the final explosion scene. But it's also been a while since I last saw the movie.

Hmm, interesting. But I grew bored with your narration and interpretation. Sorry about that. I find it fascinating that you were able to glean so much out of this film and much of what you share makes for stimulating conversation but I'm sure the majority of what you describe is completely lost upon the casual viewer who saw this pic and doesn't remember much except the spectacular blow up at the conclusion of the film. I, myself, loved three scenes: The introduction, with the students discussing how to close down the university, the desert scene, and how it blooms into golden copulations and sexual expression (perfect for the Burning Man generation), and of course, the grand finale with the blowing up of the real estate property. Those scenes are timeless. What this film lacked was a better script. While the actors were not professional actors I think they needed better direction and weren't given very much. That's pretty much intimated by Frechette himself in his interview with Dick Cavette. Antonioni was not great at giving directions to his actors and for these neophytes, it made somewhat frustrating for them. But the connection between the opening classroom discussion and the grand finale just isn't established well enough, in imo. And I think a good screenwriter could have found a way to bridge the two. Just having a film conclude with an explosion, while visually compelling, doesn't do enough to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. The script needed work. In any event, I love this picture and the fact that it got made is a phenomenal achievement.

Must surely rank as one of the worst films of all time with two leads with the combined charisma of a tree stump. Long empty and tediously dull.

gee whiz, wax on academically for about 60 more minutes, why don'tcha.