Italian art-house director Michelangelo Antonioni’s first entirely English-language film, Blow-Up, has become a classic from the period, typifying the ‘swinging 60s’ mood of London. Perhaps assisted by its depiction of sex and nudity, controversial for a mainstream film at the time, Blow-Up was successful with both critics and audiences when originally released. Telling the story of a fashion photographer who believes he has unwittingly witnessed a murder and photographed the event, it hints at a more sinister side to ‘Swinging London’. Although detailing events in a wandering fashion, Antonioni’s film has become a Mod classic, featuring an appearance by the Yardbirds complete with Jeff Beck smashing his guitar at the end of their performance!

The French poster here, designed by Georges Kerfyser, captures the hedonistic and vibrant atmosphere of the time, playing upon the film’s controversial sexual content brilliantly. The psychedelic artwork of the photographer and model in mid-shoot acts as the perfect throwback to the period although the close-up illustrations and the gun obscured in the title perfectly evoke the underlying sense of menace in the film.

This example has been linen-backed.

For the purpose of comparison we show the 2 UK Quad posters produced for the film (images courtesy of www.christies.com & www.moviepostermem.com).