I like a good meta film. Film about film. Looking to learn how to look. Blow Up, Antonioni's materpiece, is about just that: looking, the implications of looking, the exploitation of looking. Don't let that scare you off, because the film tells a great story apart from the interpretations of what it means. But like all great art, Blow Up works on so many levels simultaneously that every time you watch it, you'll pick up something else, learn something new.
Blow Up is about the sexy life of a young fashion photographer in 1960s London. He's rich and surrounded by beautiful women who will do anything to have him take their picture, but he's bored with his life. Then, by happenstance, he makes some photographs that reveal a mystery. As he continues to study the pictures (he's interrupted a couple times by beautiful women who, um, end up playfully naked), he realizes he's caught up in something much bigger than just making pictures. Antonioni's visual storytelling is flawless here. There is about stretch of about 15 minutes where he tells the story without dialog. Just camera angles. It's intense and amazing. Think about telling a story silently, with the only sounds being running water in the darkroom and shoes scuffing on the floor as Thomas (the photographer) moves around his studio. He does this a couple times through out the film and he pulls it off masterfully each time.
Music by Herbie Hancock, a live scene with the Yardbirds (Jeff Beck smashes a guitar, The Who-style), sharp dialog, lots of really interesting camera angles, a band of mimes, Vanessa Redgrave+Veruschka+Jane Birkin, etc.
Blow Up is a masterpiece. Watch it.
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