So I love movies from the late 60’s-mid 70’s, and grabbed Blowup because of a Netflix suggestion based on something else I’d seen. In short I hated it. It possesses that whole ‘show not tell’ quality I so enjoy, and it’s a bit interesting in terms of giving one a glimpse of place and time (London, mid 60’s), but beyond that I hated it. The main character is a misogynistic ass who cares only for himself. He gets involved in a sort of murder mystery after photographing a couple in the park then becoming suspicious when the woman appears at his studio asking for the film. He blows up the photos he’s taken and discovers a man with a gun and a dead body in his photos.
The whole point seems to be about the main character reconnecting with the world but it’s slow, drawn out, painful to watch the guy abusing the various female characters in the film, and comes across as pretentious asshatery. I’m sure film students would eviscerate me for all that, it’s beloved by critics and held up as a landmark film, but it did nothing but irritate me.