Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- melancholic
- introspective
- cool
- quiet evening
- arthouse cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film visually sophisticated and melancholy but more modest, ironic, and emotionally elusive than Antonioni's major earlier works.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Niccolo's search for a leading actress becomes inseparable from his search for a woman to occupy a role in his own life.
Niccolo is abandoned by his wife, pursued relationships also end in separation, and his desire remains entangled with emotional distance.
The director-protagonist turns romantic disappointment into a proposed film while confronting the limits of his own perspective.
The film's sophisticated Italian art-cinema presentation places intimate encounters within carefully composed modern environments.
Films like Identification of a Woman, and why
L'Avventura
Shared modernist romantic alienation, emotional ambiguity, and an emotionally distant male protagonist navigating relationships.
La notte
Shared Antonionian themes of desire, disconnection, and the difficulty of translating intimate experience into art.
An Autumn Afternoon
Shared introspective romance, elegant visual composition, and melancholy attention to an aging artist's uncertainty.
8½
Shared self-reflexive filmmaking, fractured intimacy, and the entanglement of artistic creation with romantic desire.
Movie Details
- Director
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Release Date
- 1982-10-15
- Runtime
- 128 min
- Rating
- 5.9 / 10 (85)
Cast
- Tomas Milian
- Daniela Silverio
- Christine Boisson
- Lara Wendel
- Veronica Lazăr
- Enrica Antonioni
- Sandra Monteleoni
- Marcel Bozzuffi
- Gianpaolo Saccarola
- Stefania D'Amario
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Criterion Channel
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Identification of a Woman about?
- An Italian filmmaker turns romantic abandonment into a search for both his next leading actress and a woman who might restore meaning to his own life.
- What is Identification of a Woman like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Identification of a Woman as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Identification of a Woman violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Identification of a Woman.
- What did critics think of Identification of a Woman?
- Critics broadly found the film visually sophisticated and melancholy but more modest, ironic, and emotionally elusive than Antonioni's major earlier works.
- Which films are like Identification of a Woman?
- Films with a similar feel include L'Avventura, La notte, An Autumn Afternoon, and 8½.
- How long is Identification of a Woman?
- Identification of a Woman runs 128 minutes.
- Where can I watch Identification of a Woman?
- In United States, Identification of a Woman streams on Criterion Channel.
