lsanderson | Michelangelo Antonion, dead at 94

Michelangelo Antonioni, 94, Italian Director, Dies
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 5:54 a.m. ET

ROME (AP) -- Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, whose depiction of alienation made him a symbol of art-house cinema with movies such as ''Blow-Up'' and ''L'Avventura,'' has died, officials and news reports said Tuesday. He was 94.

The ANSA news agency said that Antonioni died at his home on Monday evening.

''With Antonioni dies not only one of the greatest directors but also a master of modernity,'' Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni said in a statement.

Antonioni depicted alienation in the modern world through sparse dialogue and long takes. Along with Federico Fellini, he helped turn post-war Italian film away from the Neorealism movement and toward a personal cinema of imagination. More