Blow Up Review

Sarah McConnell
COM 232; Visual Literacy
Paper#3 – Review of Blow Up

“Nothing like a little disaster for sorting things out.” – Thomas, Blow Up

The movie Blow up is a visual buffet of superficial beauty but it also contains a twisted plot that makes you think about reality and how we attempt to control it. Is what we see really there and is what you see what you get? Taking place in London, we meet Thomas, a mod 60s photographer who is a male chauvinistic control-freak. You instantly want to hate him, but seemingly can’t resist his arrogance and nickel slick attitude. As a result, we are drawn in to a world of Thomas’ unique design; a world of deranged beauty. Within this world, only Thomas is in control and we are just along for the ride. He controls the women of his choosing, his art, and every situation that he finds appealing or attractive.

The first sign of Thomas’ control is when he is photographing the model Veruschka. Knowing she has to catch a plane to Paris, he makes her wait over an hour to be photographed and proceeds to make sure she knows he doesn’t care about his own tardiness. This lack of respect lets us know that he feels superior. He begins to bark orders at her and photographs a sexual dance that is meant only for his pleasure. However, he treats her better than he treats his other models, The Birds. Thomas forcefully poses them into the art that he wants to create. He demeans them with this tone, sarcasm, and overall rude behavior, making them appear insecure and small which is in contrast to the stereo-typical high fashion model behavior. He does not apologize for his bad behavior because if he can control their actions, he can then manipulate the vibe, the physical scenery, and the final images produced from his camera. Therefore, he is the only one who can make his art. Knowing this is very important because it sets the tone for the upcoming events that cause us to want more from this tormented man.

The park scene is pivotal when looking at the scenery and Thomas’ control issues. The park appears to be beautiful and lush, a utopian-type place to shoot the ending for his dark photography publication. During this shoot, he photographs a beautiful yet conservative woman and a middle-aged man who appear to be frolicking within the confines of Thomas’ Garden of Eden. He becomes so wrapped up in the superficial beauty of his surroundings that he cannot see that the park becomes a dangerous place of pure evil and violence as his maiden beauty is an accomplice to murder. The woman pursues and confronts him about invading her privacy during such an intimate moment, and this only adds to Thomas’ arrogance and perceived control of the situation.

Jane: Stop it! Stop it! Give me those pictures. You can't photograph people like that.
Thomas: Who says I can't? I'm only doing my job. Some people are bullfighters, some people are politicians. I'm a photographer.

By putting himself within the realm of a politician, he makes himself seem very important and therefore will do whatever he wants. When she asks for the film, he refuses her thus starting a game that he thinks he is controlling. She follows him to his studio, demands the film again and then is reduced to playfully seducing him to get what she wants. Due to his juvenile arrogance, he does not see that she is playing him. Thinking he can gain control of her, he gives her the wrong roll of film. Succumbing to his curiosity, it isn’t until he develops the film that he sees the dark side of his serene shoot. He begins to see the violence and murder as he blows up the photos and reviews them with a magnifying glass. The contrast of the park’s appearance and the dark reality taking place within is absolutely striking. It is at this moment, when he begins to lose his control.

His need to control and understand the situation causes him to go back to look at the body. During this time, Thomas’ overall demeanor and cool/collected behavior is beginning to crack. He is discombobulated, jittery, and erratic with his actions. The original photographs and negatives have disappeared. While driving he sees his lovely maiden, who disappears before his eyes. He is completely losing control over everything he knows. To help regain control, he attempts to re-photograph the body, which has long since disappeared.

This experience has physically and emotionally changed him as is shown in the final scenes with the mimes. He is now deflated, humbled, and open to the real world around him. He watches a tennis match performed by mimes and eventually realizes that what he sees may or may not be real, therefore he must open himself to all things (shown by him finally disappearing in the open field).

This film is beautifully shot with extremes and excess. However because of the excess, we realize how simple our own reality can be. Simple, yet still beautiful.